ATM 6:1 Flexure

[ketelsen@as.arizona.edu (Dean Ketelsen)]

>I recently recieved a brochure at work from Corning, showing their ULE
>(ultra low expansion) glass products, including an impressive 8.1 meter
>mirror, achieving significant weight reduction, using hexagonal
>interior structure.

Unless Corning has come out with a new product in 8 meter class optics
lately (we here at the Mirror Lab need to keep up with the competition),
the 8.2 meter mirrors now under construction are of the meniscus type
(slumped over a mold of appropriate radius) and are not lightweighted
other than being only .2 meters thick.  They still weigh about 20 tons.
What might have been seen as a hexagonal structure are the fusion lines
from the hexagonal boules that were fused to make the larger blanks.

                                        -Dean