A 3.5 m diameter SiC telescope for Herschel mission
Publication date: 01 March 2003
Authors: Sein, E., et al.
Journal: Proceedings of SPIE
Volume: 4850
Issue: IR Space Telescopes and Instruments
Page: pp.606-618
Year: 2003
Copyright: ©2003 SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering
Abstract
Since ten years ASTRIUM has developed sintered Silicon Carbide (SiC) technology for space applications. Its unique thermo-mechanical properties, associated with its polishing capability, make SiC an ideal material for building ultra-stable lightweight space based telescopes or mirrors. SiC is a cost effective alternative to Beryllium and the ultra-lighweighted ULE. In complement to the material manufacturing process, ASTRIUM has developed several assembly techniques (bolting, brazing, bonding) for manufacturing large and complex SiC assemblies. This technology is now perfectly mature and mastered. SiC is baselined for most of the telescopes that are developed by ASTRIUM. SiC has been identified as the most suitable material for manufacturing very large crygenic telescopes. In this paper we present the development of a 3.5m-diameter telescope for the Herschel Mission. Herschel's main goal is to study how the first stars and galaxies were formed and evolved. The Herschel Space telescope, using silicon carbide technology will be the largest space imagery telescope ever launched. The Herschel telescope will weight 300 kg rather than the 1.5 tons required with standard technology. The Herschel telescope is to be delivered in 2005 for a launch planned for 2007.