Gmto Corporation

GMT OPTICAL CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE -THE GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE (GMT) IS A NEXT-GENERATION ?EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE? THAT IS TO BE BUILT IN CHILE. FIRST OBSERVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SKIES ARE ANTICIPATED IN THE LATE 2030S. WITH THIS AWARD, THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION WILL SUPPORT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THE TELESCOPE OBTAINS THE SHARPEST IMAGES POSSIBLE. A NEW ?TESTBED? WILL BE BUILT AND USED TO MODEL THE ALIGNMENT OF THE GMT?S MIRRORS. NEW SOFTWARE AND A COMPUTER PLATFORM WILL ALSO BE USED TO TEST THE SYSTEM THAT WILL CONTROL THE TELESCOPE AND TAKE OBSERVATIONS. IN PARALLEL WITH THIS HIGH-TECH DEVELOPMENT WORK, THE TEAM AT GMT WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ITS TRAVELLING EXHIBIT. THIS EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT IS BEING DESIGNED WITH SUPPORT FROM THE EXPLORATORIUM IN SAN FRANCISCO. IN CHILE, MEANWHILE, GMT STAFF WILL WORK ON PLANS TO PROTECT THE DARK SKIES ABOVE THE TELESCOPE SITE. TACKLING LIGHT POLLUTION IS ESSENTIAL TO THE REMARKABLE SCIENCE GMT WILL ACHIEVE. THE TECHNICAL COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THREE SPECIFIC TASKS AIMED AT ADVANCING KEY COMPONENTS OF THE TELESCOPE TO THE FINAL DESIGN PHASE: (I) THE DESIGN AND BUILD OF AN ADAPTIVE OPTICS (AO) AND MIRROR PHASING TESTBED, TO BE USED TO IMPROVE THE WAVEFRONT CONTROL PERFORMANCE OF THE GMT; (II) DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF THE OBSERVATORY CONTROL SYSTEM NEEDED TO EXECUTE OBSERVATIONS; AND (III) PROTOTYPING OF A REAL-TIME COMPUTER PLATFORM ESSENTIAL TO OPERATING THE FOUR MAIN OPTICS CONTROL MODES THAT GMT WILL UTILIZE - NATURAL SEEING, AO USING NATURAL GUIDE STARS, GROUND LAYER AO, AND LASER TOMOGRAPHY AO. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO FOCUS ON FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF AN INFORMAL EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT AND ADVANCING GMT?S DARK AND QUIET SKIES EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE FUNDACI?N CIELOS DE CHILE AND MCDONALD OBSERVATORY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

US ELT PROGRAM: GMT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT -THE GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE (GMT) IS A NEXT-GENERATION ?EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE? THAT IS TO BE BUILT IN CHILE, WITH FIRST OBSERVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN SKIES ANTICIPATED IN THE MID-TO-LATE 2030S. WITH THIS AWARD, THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION WILL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF KEY TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED TO ENSURE THE TELESCOPE OBTAINS THE SHARPEST IMAGES POSSIBLE. AT THE HEART OF THE GMT ARE SEVEN 8.4-METER DIAMETER MIRRORS. THESE MUST BE ALIGNED WITH SEVEN SMALLER MIRRORS, EACH 1-METER IN DIAMETER, MOUNTED AT THE TOP OF THE TELESCOPE. THIS PRECISE ALIGNMENT, OR ?PHASING?, REQUIRES VERY CAREFUL DESIGN AND TESTING OF A RANGE OF CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES. THE AWARD WILL SUPPORT THIS CRUCIAL DEVELOPMENT WORK. THE AWARD WILL ALSO SUPPORT A WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND RESEARCH INTO AN INFORMAL EDUCATION PROGRAM. GMT WILL PLAN A SUMMER PROGRAM OF ACTIVITIES, BASED ON THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN?S EXISTING TEXAS ASTRONOMY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS (TAURUS) PROGRAM, THAT WILL TARGET UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES. WORKING WITH THE SAN FRANCISCO EXPLORATORIUM, GMT WILL ALSO EXPLORE NEW WAYS OF DEVELOPING EXHIBITS THAT ARE BETTER SUITED TO A DIVERSE AUDIENCE, IDEAS THAT COULD BE USED IN A FUTURE TRAVELLING GMT EXHIBITION. THE PROJECT WILL FOCUS ON THREE SPECIFIC TECHNICAL RISK-REDUCTION ACTIVITIES. THE PRIMARY MIRROR (M1) ACTIVE OPTICS SYSTEM WILL BE TESTED BY INSTALLING ONE OF THE RECENTLY COMPLETED M1 SEGMENTS IN A PRIMARY MIRROR TEST CELL, TO DEMONSTRATE ACTIVE OPTICS CONTROL OF THE MIRROR SURFACE WAVEFRONT ERROR USING THE OPTICAL METROLOGY TOWER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA?S RICHARD F. CARIS MIRROR LAB. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO BUILD AN ADAPTIVE SECONDARY MIRROR PHASING TESTBED (ASM PTB) AND WILL USE THIS TO DEMONSTRATE ASM SEGMENT POSITION SENSING AND CONTROL. THE PTB WILL INCLUDE A METROLOGY FRAME OF REFERENCE FOR THE ASM FIRST ARTICLE AND WILL CONFIRM POSITION SENSOR PERFORMANCE. FINALLY, THE TEAM WILL ALSO DEVELOP A LASER TOMOGRAPHY ADAPTIVE OPTICS WAVEFRONT SENSOR (LTWS) PROTOTYPE TO ADDRESS POTENTIAL DESIGN RISK FEATURES IDENTIFIED DURING THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN PHASE, PROTOTYPING A SINGLE CHANNEL SHACK-HARTMANN SENSOR, AND TESTING THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE SENSOR MOTION STAGES AND CABLE WRAP DESIGN CONCEPTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.