Nanoscale Resolution Additive Manufacturing Platform

Triton proposes to develop a scalable and high throughput nanoscale additive manufacturing platform to mass produce reflecting telescope mirrors at reduced cost. We also significantly improve environmental stability of the light-weight plastic primary mirrors by designing mirror bases and structural supports for eliminating thermomechanical stress-induced distortion. Space Domain Awareness requires a scalable manufacturing platform to mass produce custom size and shape mirrors for use in reflecting telescopes at reduced cost. Currently, most high-quality reflecting telescope mirrors have been made of very low coefficient of thermal expansion materials such as ultra-low expansion glass or lightweight beryllium which are produced via extensive polishing procedures to achieve a wavelength/10 or better surface roughness, resulting in very high cost and often delayed projects. Therefore, advanced manufacturing tools and processes are required for rapid prototyping and mass production of telescope mirrors at reduced costs.         In Phase I, we down-selected materials for mirror assembly by thoroughly reviewing and considering their functional properties, printing speed for additive manufacturing, volume  availability, and cost. We also designed and modeled CTE-induced stress-free mirror assembly over the expected operating temperatures. Finally, we systematically investigated 3D printing procedures and produced 3D printed polymer layers with the average surface roughness of 61 nm, surpassing the Phase I program target of 100 nm. The Phase II efforts are designed to develop and build affordable and high-performance Newtonian telescopes by using additive manufactured all plastic 300 mm aperture parabolic primary mirrors. In Phase II, we will further refine the primary mirror assembly design and model by measuring and using thermomechanical properties of materials at expected operating temperatures. We will also determine thermomechanical performances of the telescope optical train by conducting ray tracing analysis over expected operating temperatures. For 3D printing of the parabolic primary mirrors, we will design and construct 3D printing tool and procedures which are suitable to produce large area 3D prints with nanoscale surface roughness in fast speed.  Finally, we will build and test 300 mm aperture Newtonian telescopes, and deliver one unit to Space Force