Snap-Together Optical System

PDR AND AEROJET HAVE JOINTLY DEVELOPED A UNIQUE AND NOVEL OPTICAL DESIGN FOR GENERATING A HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW COST, SNAP TOGETHER OPTICAL SYSTEM. THIS STATE OF THE ART CONCEPT FEATURES A PATENT PENDING MONOLITHIC PLATE (FIGURES 3&5) WHICH IS USED IN THE WELL RECOGNIZED 3-MIRROR OPTICAL TELESCOPES. IT ALLOWS FOR THE PRIMARY (MIRROR 1) AND TERTIARY (MIRROR 3) TO BE FABRICATED ON A COMMON PLATE USING SINGLE POINT DIAMOND TURNING TECHNOLOGY. THE CONCEPT, DESIGN, FABRICATED AND QUALIFIED INFRARED OPTICAL TELESCOPES WERE PRESENTED AT THE APRIL 1992 SPIE CONFERENCE IN ORLANDO FL. THE NEXT PROPOSED EVOLUTION OF THIS CONCEPT IS TO DESIGN AN ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT OPTICAL TRAIN, FROM ONE OF THREE DESIRABLE MATERIALS; CAST ALUMINUM, SXA OR SILICON CARBIDE, WHILE MAINTAINING ITS HIGH PERFORMANCE, RUGGEDNESS AND LOW COST OPTICS THAT CAN BE USED IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS (CRYOGENIC, SPACE, UGT, AGT etc.) AND HAVING A BROAD SPECTRAL RANGE FROM VISIBLE TO INFRARED.