ORNL and Advanced Optical Systems are developing lightweight mirror technologies that could provide an alternative way to manufacture mirrors for telescopes used for space exploration and military applications. The key is in using existing technologies such as casting, nickel plating and precision machining to produce lightweight aluminum-silicon alloy mirrors. The process is less expensive than approaches that use exotic materials such as beryllium or composite materials yet yields surfaces with similar stiffness-to-weight ratios. NASA needs lightweight mirror technologies to increase launch capacities, provide easier steering of the mirrors and make possible more portable ground-based applications. These low-cost telescope mirrors also have military benefits of extremely low image distortion and low scattering of light.
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