Large aperture diffractive space telescope

Patent · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2001

OSTI ID:873677

Hyde, Roderick A ^[1]

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1. Livermore, CA

A large (10's of meters) aperture space telescope including two separate spacecraft--an optical primary objective lens functioning as a magnifying glass and an optical secondary functioning as an eyepiece. The spacecraft are spaced up to several kilometers apart with the eyepiece directly behind the magnifying glass "aiming" at an intended target with their relative orientation determining the optical axis of the telescope and hence the targets being observed. The objective lens includes a very large-aperture, very-thin-membrane, diffractive lens, e.g., a Fresnel lens, which intercepts incoming light over its full aperture and focuses it towards the eyepiece. The eyepiece has a much smaller, meter-scale aperture and is designed to move along the focal surface of the objective lens, gathering up the incoming light and converting it to high quality images. The positions of the two space craft are controlled both to maintain a good optical focus and to point at desired targets which may be either earth bound or celestial.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• Assignee: United States of America as represented by United States Department (Washington, DC)
• Patent Number(s): US 6219185
• OSTI ID: 873677
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/359/244/
10
aiming
apart
aperture
axis
bound
celestial
controlled
converting
craft
designed
desired
determining
diffractive
diffractive lens
directly
earth
eyepiece
focal
focus
focuses
fresnel
fresnel lens
functioning
gathering
glass
hence
images
including
incoming
incoming light
intended
intercepts
kilometers
large-aperture
lens
light
magnifying
maintain
meter-scale
meters
move
objective
objective lens
observed
optical
optical axis
orientation
positions
primary
quality
relative
relative orientation
secondary
separate
space
space telescope
spacecraft
spacecraft--an
spaced
surface
target
targets
telescope
telescope including
towards
very-thin-membrane