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Mirror Fabrication

November
The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft x 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile.
Credit: 
LSST Project
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November
The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft x 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile.
Credit: 
LSST Project
Medium Version
Full Size Version
November
The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft x 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile.
Credit: 
LSST Project
Medium Version
Full Size Version
November
The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft x 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile.
Credit: 
LSST Project
Medium Version
Full Size Version
November
The 72,620 pound M1M3 shipping container was successfully transported from CAID Industries in Tucson to the UofA Mirror Lab. The 30ft x 30ft oversize load departed at 4am, escorted by four Tucson police cars and two pilot vehicles. Offloading was completed by 5:30am. Once Final Acceptance Testing is completed, the M1M3 will be stored locally in Tucson for final integrated testing prior to shipment to the summit facility in Chile.
Credit: 
LSST Project
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November
LSST Telescope and Site Project Manager William Gressler and Exelis personnel pose with the LSST secondary mirror (M2) substrate in the vendor's receiving area.
Credit: 
LSST Project
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December
The unique LSST M1/M3 mirror surfaces are nearing perfection. Both mirror surfaces are being carefully polished and optically tested with completion anticipated by the end of December 2013.
Credit: 
E. Acosta / LSST Corporation
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January
Clearly visible in this mid-June 2012 photograph are the dual optical surfaces in the LSST M1/M3 mirror blank. The steeper 5.0-meter diameter M3 surface, with its short radius of curvature, descends toward the center while the outer 8.4-meter diameter M1 surface sweeps outward to the edge of the substrate. Generation of both the M1 and M3 figure is now completed, with nearly 5 tons of glass removed to achieve the required approximate shape before polishing can begin. Laser tracker measurements confirm that the primary and tertiary surfaces are located properly with respect to each other. Next polishing actuators and thermocouples will be installed on the polishing cell for precision polishing of the front surface. The M1/M3 dual surfaces are scheduled to be complete in January 2012. Shown L-R: S. Jacoby, C. Claver, S. Wolff, V. Krabbendam, J. Schaefer.
Credit: 
E. Acosta / LSST Corporation
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December
The steeply curved M1/M3 surface is prepared for polishing. (Dec. 17, 2009)
Credit: 
Paul O'Connor BNL/LSST
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July
The steel polishing cell to support the M1M3 mirror blank during the upcoming front surface optical processing is delivered to SOML in the Integration Lab.
Credit: 
Ray Bertram
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July
Doug Neill, Steve Warner, and Bill Gressler (L-R) inspect the back surface of the LSST M1M3 blank after the 40 micron loose abrasive grinding process. Above in the foreground is the large loose abrasive grinding lap used to process the back surface.
Credit: 
Ray Bertram
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October
The 8.4-meter LSST mirror blank has been successfully lifted from the furnace hearth at the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, installed into a turning ring, and tilted to a vertical position. It is now ready for core cleanout, which will reduce its mass from 46,500 kg to 16,600 kg. The mirror is scheduled to be completed in January 2012, and will be the largest two-surface optical mirror ever made from a single substrate.
Credit: 
Jeffrey S. Kingsley/UA Steward Observatory
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August
Members of the team building the LSST, a large survey telescope being built in Northern Chile, gather to celebrate the successful casting of the telescope's 27.5-foot-diameter mirror blank in August 2008.
Credit: 
Howard Lester / LSST
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March
LSST Director Tony Tyson, Charles Simonyi, UA Mirror Lab Director Roger Angel, The National Science Board's Steven Beering, LSST Project Manager Don Sweeney, and Purdue Physicist Ian Shipsey pose in front of the spinning oven in which the LSST primary mirror is being cast.
Credit: 
David Harvey / LSST Corporation
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November
Jim Bracken, Randy Lutz, and Phil Muir (L-R) install cores in the LSST monolithic mirror mold. Nov 20, 2007
Credit: 
V. Krabbendam, LSST
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Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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