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LSST's 8.4-meter mirror blank has been successfully lifted from the furnace hearth

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Today the perfectly cast 8.4-meter LSST primary/tertiary mirror blank was successfully lifted from the furnace hearth, put into the turning ring and tilted to the vertical position. The finished light weighted mirror will be 16,600 kg with the thickest outside edge (height of 0.92 meters) ever made at the UA Steward Observatory Mirror Lab. Once completed, this will be the largest two surface optical mirror made from one substrate in the world. The mirror is scheduled to be completed in January 2012.

 

Image Credit: 
LSST / SOML

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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