Re: ATM [Fwd: [ASTRO] Mason Dixon Star Party]

["Clive" <milnecd@wantree.com.au>]

    If anyone is interested , the following addy is well worth a look...
http://snoopy.gsfc.nasa.gov/~lunartel/lun7.html

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Castoro <astrojoe@erols.com>
To: Mel Bartels <mbartels@efn.org>
Cc: atm@shore.net <atm@shore.net>
Date: Sunday, July 12, 1998 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: ATM [Fwd: [ASTRO] Mason Dixon Star Party]


>
>Hi Mel,
>
>What thickness ratio is recommended ? :<)
>
>Joe Castoro
>
>
>
>Mel Bartels wrote:
>>
>> from a post on the astro e-mail list:
>>
>> > I attended the Mason Dixon Star Party in southeastern Pennsylvania a
few
>> > weeks ago. While there, I attended a presentation I think many of you
>> > would be interested in. The person who gave the presentation was doing
>> > research under a grant from NASA. The idea was to develop a lightweight
>> > mirror for telescopes. The purpose of doing this was to possibly put a
>> > robotic telescope on the moon as cheaply as possible. What his team
>> > developed was sheets of carbon fibers saturated with epoxy layed over a
>> > glass mold. When they dried, the inside surface was refind to a state
of
>> > extreme smoothness with lasers. The surface was then coated with the
>> > reflective material. The result was a very strong and lightweight
>> > mirror. A 6" prototype was passed around at the meeting. This mirror
>> > weighed approximately 5 ounces. Larger mirrors are currently in
>> > production. The statement was made that in the not too distant future,
>> > it would be technically and financially reasonable to expect amateur
>> > astronomers to own a 1 meter telescope. I've forgotten the exact weight
>> > but I believe the weight of this mirror would be about 25 pounds. Using
>> > current laser technology, they say they can produce mirrors machined to
>> > a smoothness greater than current professional scopes.
>