Suzy B Software 2/Suzy B Software CD-ROM 2 (1994).iso/nasa/scopes/scopes.txt

Text File | 1995-05-02 | 26KB | 487 lines

Large Telescope Projects Either Being
Considered or in the Works

(Not ever claimed to be complete)

Version 8.5
12/31/91

                             Part One

                        Optical Telescopes

* The Keck Telescope, a 10-meter on Mauna Kea being built by the
California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA), made up of
the University of California and Caltech.  Primary mirror will be
comprised of 36-segments.  Saw first light in Nov. 1990 with nine
segments.  Work continues.  Reported $94.2 million price tag.

* The Keck II Telescope.  Officially announced by CARA and Keck.  To be
another 10-meter instrument on Mauna Kea that would be used for
interferometry in company with the first 10-meter telescope.
Projected cost is $93.3 million.  Keck Foundation has donated $74.6
million.  Asking NASA for remaining $18.7 million.  First light in 1996.

* Very Large Telescope (VLT), an array of four 8-meter mirrors that
will be able to work as interferometer.  Will use thin meniscus mirrors
with active support much like the NTT does.  Planned for Cerro Paranal,
Chile.  European Southern Observatory.  First light 1995.  Apparent
full funding.  Have cast first 8.7-meter spun cast mirror blank.

* Gemini - NOAO is planning a double 8-meter project, with one
telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and another in southern skies.
Expected to use spun-cast mirrors from University of Arizona Mirror
Lab (F/1.8 or shorter).  Northern site to be Mauna Kea and southern
site near Cerro Tololo (Cerro Pachon).  Northern half received $4
million in start up funding, with plans to start construction early in
1993.  Recently recommended this telescope be optimized for infrared
work (2 to 10um).  Gemini is expected to cost about $80 million. First
light in 1997.  Bahcall report recommends that southern telescope
should be optimized for optical and near-ultraviolet.  Expected cost of
$55 million.  Canadians have dropped out of this project but may be
back in at 10 percent (?).  Currently partnered with U.S. and Britain and
apparently searching for another partner (the Aussies?).

* The Magellan 8-meter telescope.  Partners include the Carnegie
Institute of Washington and the University of Arizona.  $43 million
cost.  John Hopkins dropped out in April.  To be built at Las Campanas,
Chile, starting in 1991 with first light in 1996.  Arizona spun-cast
mirror.  If new partner is not found, may be scaled back to 6.5-meters
with Carnegie committed to building in at least SOME form.

* The Japanese National Telescope or JNLT is a 8.2-meter instrument
with a "meniscus" mirror with about 400 actuators.  Named "SUBARU" in
August.  To be located on Mauna Kea.  Approved by Ministry of
Education, construction started April, 1991.  8.31-meter monolithic
mirror blank to be cast by Corning using ULE glass.  Weight, 60,000 lbs,
8-inches thick.  Three years to manufacture and another three years
to grind, polish and figure.  Cost about $350 million.  First light in
1999.

* The 'Deutsches Grossteleskop,' or German Large Telescope.  A
12-meter reflector consisting of a central single 8-meter mirror and
several 2-meter sectorial segments.  To include both active and
adaptive optics.  Cassegrain focus will be primary data collection
point (unlike most other projects which also have a Nasmyth focus).
Location and date of first light unknown. Construction time of 5-6
years.

* The Columbus Project, twin 8.4-meter telescope to be jointly
funded by the University of Arizona and the Italian National
Observatory -- Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory --  and to be
located on Mt. Graham in southern Arizona.  Expected cost is at least
$60 million.  Ohio State University dropped this project because of
lack of funds.  Arizona is talking to either two or three possible
partners.  Rumors include the University of Toronto.

* WIYN, University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University and
the National Optical Astronomical Observatory's (NOAO), 3.5-meter
telescope expected to be finished on Kitt Peak in May, 1993.  Uses UofA
spun cast mirror.  Replacing the #1 36-inch telescope.  Formerly WIN.

* MMT Conversion.  The University of Arizona and the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory to replace MMT's six 72-inch mirrors
(4.5-meter aperture) with a single spun-cast 6.5-meter for $15.5
million.  Casting of mirror has been set for mid Feburary, 1992 (set
back from December, 1991). Primary will be f/1.25, three secondaries
will give f/5.4, f/9, and f/15, the latter with a chopping secondary for
infrared work.  The f/5.4 focus will have a 3-element refractive
corrector to give a 1 degree field of view.  Current MMT will cease
operations in January, 1994.  First light planned for late 1994 at F/9.
F/15 and F/5.4 to be operational in 1995.  Related information: the 1.8-
meter F/1 VATT mirror has recently been completed with a surface that
departs from a perfect paraboloid by 17 nm rms.  (NTT mirror achieves
12.7 nm rms only through active mirror support).

* ARC, University of Chicago, University of Washington and Washington
State, New Mexico State University and Princeton.  3.5-meter telescope
using one of three 3.5 meter spun-cast blanks produced by the UofA
Mirror Lab.  Figuring of mirror complete, should be in telescope in a
couple of months.  Located at Sunspot, New Mexico.  Testing used a
smaller, substitute mirror.

* Weapons Laboratory.  U.S. Air Force, Kirkland Air Force Base in
Albuquerque, New Mexico (AFWL).  To be resting place of one of the three
Roger Angel spun-cast 3.5-meter mirror.  Mirror was been generated on
the Large Optical Generator (LOG) at the UofA Mirror Lab and is being
polished and figured on their stressed lap machine.  Recently achieved
target surface 28nm RMS from perfect paraboloid, down from 120nm this
fall.  Mirror Lab expects to continue figuring to see just how good of a
surface the stressed lap method can make.  First light in 1991.

* SST, or Spectroscopic Survey Telescope, being built by the
University of Texas and Penn State at McDonald Observatory in western
Texas.  To be made up of 85 1-meter spherical mirrors on a rotating
mount pointed 30 degrees from zenith.  Twin detectors that will track
objects independently will allow this telescope to collect spectra from
declinations from -5 to +60, down to magnitude 22.  Cost is about $9
million.  Funding almost complete and about a dozen mirrors have been
ground.

* Digital Sky Survey or just Survey telescope (?).  2.5-meter alt-
azimuth will scan sky with clocking CCDs as sky rotates past undriven
telescope.  Five years to image full sky in four or maybe five colors
using 30 2k x 2k CCDs.  Will also measure redshifts for about 1 million
galaxies by taking 600 spectra at once.  Located at Sunspot?  Funded
by ARC, Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies and Fermilab (?)
Cost?  Some funding on hand, reported to have ordered mirror.

* Soviet, er Russian, er, whatever, 6-meter upgrade.  A new ultra low
expansion (ULE) glass mirror blank has been cast for the 6-meter
alt-altazimuth telescope of the USSR Special Astrophysical
Observatory (SAO) in the Caucasus.  Installation in 1993?

* SOFIA, or Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy.  Boeing
747SP aircraft mounted 2.5-meter reflector. Replacement for the
Gerald P. Kuiper Airborne Observatory.  To fly 100 8-hour flights a
year.  To observe 30 to 300 microns.  First light in 1993. Apparently
budgeted fiscal 1992.  $230 million cost.  Sponsored by NASA and the
German Science Ministry (BMFT).

* LEST, or Large Earth-based Solar Telescope.  2.4-meter aperture to
use adaptive opticals to increase resolution of images and spectra.
To be located in the Canary Islands.  Ten counties, (who?), including U.S.
who will contribute $15 million, about one third of construction and
operation cost.

* SOAR, or Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research.
University of North Carolina and Columbia University with operation by
NOAO with all three splitting time.  $20 million 4-meter telescope for
Cerro Pachon.  Completion in mid-1990s.  Based on NTT, 4.07-meter
primary that is 20 cm thick on active support.  Two quick change
instruments at Nasmyth focus.  Glass for primary ordered.  No planned
F/ratio yet.

* Cambridge-Cambridge Telescope, or Cambridge^2.  Harvard (CfA) in U.S.
and Cambridge in UK are teaming up to build a 4-meter class project.
Similar to other projects with fibre-fed and large field spectroscopes.
To be used to boost red-shift surveys and other large, long-term
projects.  Site in south, probably Cerro Pachon.  Some US money, about
$3 million, raised toward a $24 million goal to cover construction and
an operation endowment.


                             Part Two
                         Radio Telescopes
                         (Land and Space)

* VLBA, or Very Long Baseline Array.  Ten 25-meter antennas located
all over continental U.S., Hawaii and Virgin Islands.  8000 mile baseline.
The $70 million price includes a central signal processing system
called the correlator and a major computing facility for
post-processing collected data.  Headquarters to be in  Socorro, N.M.,
jointly managed with the Very Large Array.  Project is about half done.
"First light" was couple years ago, regular operations expected in
1992.

* VSOP.  A Japanese 10-meter radio telescope satellite.  To be
launched into high Earth orbit with intermediate inclination.  Intended
to work in conjunction with VLBA much of the time.  Launch in 1994?

* Radioastron.  USSR 10-meter radio telescope satellite to be launched
into very high Earth orbit with a high inclination.  Intended to work in
conjunction with VLBA and/or several USSR 70-meter VLBI antennas.
Reported to be launched 1994.  Threaten by recent events.  Any word?

* GBT, or Green Bank Telescope.  A 100-meter, fully steerable,
alt-azimuth off-axis obstruction free telescope to be located in
Greenbank, West Virginia.  Active surface control is hoped to be able to
allow the surface to be good enough for observations at a wavelength
of 3 millimeters.  Ground breaking was May 1 with a 1995 completion.
Cost; $75 million.  Replacement for 300 foot telescope.

* MMA, or Millimeter Array.  Proposed to NSF, awaiting funding.  Highly
recommended by the Bahcall report.  Forty transportable 8-meter
dishes in array with baselines from 70 meters up to three kilometers,
to operate in millimeter bands (.9mm to 9mm).  Imaging.  $115 million
cost.  Probably to be located in Arizona or New Mexico in a high, dry
site.

* The Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array (BIMA) is being expanded from
three to nine (with NSF funding the last three) dishes of 6-meters, all
operating in millimeter bands (to 1mm).  Assembly underway.  Upgrade
expected to be finished by 1994.  Located at Hat Creek, CA.

* Owens Valley Radio Observatory Millimeter Array is being expanded
from three to five antennas of 10.4-meters.  To operate in all
millimeter bands (to 1mm), the last coming on line in August 1993.  Talks
continue with a possible partner in the addition of a sixth antenna.

* Max Planck Sub-millimeter telescope to go on Mt. Graham, built by
thebands (to 1mm), the last coming on line in August 1993.  Talks
continue Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany
andwith a possible partner in the addition of a sixth antenna. the
University of Arizona.  The telescope is finished and awaits completion
of structure.

* Arecibo Upgrade.  A full size Gregorian subreflector system which
will provide a bandwidth low-loss feed system and provide an effective
200-meter aperture at up to 8 GHz observing frequency.  Also a 10-
meter high ground screen to reduce noise at zenith.  Funded by NASA
and NSF.

* Submillimeter Array, or SMA.  The Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory (CfA) will create an array of six dishes, each
6-meters in diameter, with a maximum baseline of about 500
meters, operating up to 900 GHz (330 microns).  Negotiations
underway to locate SMA in the "millimeter valley" on Mauna Kea, where
site studies are now underway.  Bids for antenna contract are due
in March 1992.  Expected cost is about $40 million.

* Upgrade of the AT (Australia Telescope) with 6x22m dishes on a 3
kilometer straight EW track. New dish at Siding Spring 115 kilometers
away with the intention to link to other Australian dishes (Parkes,
Tidbinbilla DSN, others as available).

* VLA extension and repair.  Adding four new telescopes and ancillary
hardware to increase resolution.  Also to fix up the world's biggest
(and one of THREE in the world?) astronomical railroad.  $32 million.

* CAT at Cambridge (UK), or the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope. Three
element intermerometer of new type design, intended to map the Cosmic
Background radiation on scales of about 1 degree. It will operate
from about in three bands from 12 to 18 GHz to remove foreground
contamination. Cost about 3 million pounds, funded by SERC. Completion
in 1993?

                             Part 3

                     Optical Interferometers

* Astrometric Interferometry Mission (AIM).  U.S. space-based $250
million project.  Desired to have 3 to 30-millionth of an arcsecond
accurary.  To observe 0.1 to .1um.  More details?

* Infrared-Optical Telescope Array (IOTA).  Two element expanding to
three fairly quickly.  Design planned for Mount Hopkins with 0.45-meter
apertures.  35 and 15-meter NE-SE L shaped baseline.  Visible and IR.
Completion in 1992.  Sponsors include; Smithsoniam Astrophysical
Observatory (SAO), Harvard University, University of Massachusetts,
University of Wyoming, MIT (Lincoln).  Cost unknown.

* CHARA, or Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, operated by
Georgia State University with engineering support provided by the
Georgia Tech Research Institute is building a seven element array
arranged in a Y shape with a maxium baseline of 400 meters.  One-meter
aperture mirrors with limiting magnitude of 12 and perhaps down to 14
as adaptive optics technology matures.  Limiting resolution to be 0.16
milliarcseconds.  Site was to be selected this summer, New Mexico was
favored.  Completion set for 1995.

* Big Optical Array (BOA), will have six 24-inch telescopes arranged in
a Y shape with a diameter of at least 250 meters.  Planned by the Naval
Research Laboratories (and others?).  Internal funding, cost $10 - 16
million.  To be built somewhere on Anderson Mesa near Flagstaff, Az
with completion planned for 1993.

* USNO Astrometric (Optical) Interferometer, or AOI.  Being built by U.S.
Naval Observatory with first light in 1993.  Four elements, 0.75m
aperture with a baseline of 5 to 40 meters.  Currently under design.
Location to be announced. (Cost?)

* COAST (Cambridge [England] Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope) 4
movable telescopes 40cm diameter, baselines up to 100 meters; under
construction.  Recently reported first fringes using two mirrors.

* SUSI (Sydney University Stellar Interferometer), at Narrabri NSW
Australia, dedicated last March.  First fringe (?).  Uses 14cm
apertures(to minimize seeing effects and maximize accuracy), two
mirrors at a time, baselines 5-640 meters north-south (the longest of
any ground based instrument); purpose to measure angular diameter of
stars down with a visual magnitude of 8. Plans to eventually add an
east-west baseline for imaging (which requires at least 3 telescopes).

* CHARON (I3T - Interferometere 3 telescopes - roughly, in french);
Observatiore de Cote d'Azur (OCA); Three 0.26-meter apertures on
north, south and west baselines variable from 10 to 140 meters;
visible; under construction for completion 1992.

* GI3T; Observatoire de Cote d'Azur (OCA); Three x 1.5m apertures on
north, south and west baselines variable from 9 to 62 meters; visible
to near IR; under construction for completion 1991.

                             Part 4

                         Space Projects

* HST/WFPCII upgrade.  To include Jitter/Gyro/solar panel fix.  Planned
(late) 1993 (or later) replacment of the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide
Field Planetary (WFPC) camera.  New filters and CCDs.  Planned before
launch of HST, WFPC II will include corrective optics for spherical
abberration.

* HST/COSTAR upgrade, or Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial
Replacement.  To replace the High-Speed Photometer (HSP) with a dummy
instrument that will hold a device to swing reflective corrective
optics into place over the focal planes of the FOS, FOC and GHRS
instruments.  Primary contractor is Ball Aerospace Corp., two sets of
optics, one made by Tinsley, the other by UTOS with first pieces
delivered in December, 1991 and all mirrors finished by March, 1992.
Optical throughput of 56 percent at 1216A and 72 percent at 6328A.  On
schedule for May, 1993 delivery to Goddard for testing.  Four different
groups will do independent tests.  About $60 million budget.  Proposed
for (late) 1993 launch.  Also some talk of adding a photometer to
replace HSP. Formerly SMARTstar.

* HST/STIS, or Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer, HST upgrade.  To
replace FOC and HRS in function in single unit.  Both spectroscopic and
imaging.  To now fly after NICMOS/NIC.  Corrective optics.  $110 million
budget has reportedly recently been cut to $85 million in order to help
fund COSTAR.

* HST/NIC, or Near Infrared Camera, formly NICMOS, HST replacement
instrument for imaging (Spectrometer may have been dropped, totally).
To be flown after WFPC II flight.  Infrared to 2.5 microns.  Corrective
optics.  $100 million budget(?).  Has also reportedly suffered about the
same funding cutback as STIS to help fund COSTAR.

* ISO, Infrared Space Observatory.  ESA mission.  Building hardware now,
launch is May 1993.  70 cm aperture.  Fully cooled, lifetime should be 18
months, and there are four instruments for spectroscopy and imaging
from 3 to 150 microns.  24 hour, highly elliptic orbit to get apogee
above radiation belts.  Might ask NASA to run one of three observing
shifts during 18 month flight, with US observers getting the time (much
like IUE).

* Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).  Planned launch in 1998.
This $1.2 billion project will be launched from shuttle.  Most likely
delayed do to recent NASA budget juggling.  Recently tested optics.

* Space Infrared Telescope Facility, or SIRTF.  1995 (?) start with
project management at JPL and instruments built by three different
teams.  Telescope has a .9-m aperture and will be optimized for maximum
sensitivity from 3 to 700 microns.  $1.3 billion project with earliest
launch date of 2003.  To use newly developed detectors.  Planned five
year lifetime in high Earth orbit (10^5 km).  Likely delays if not
cancellation yet to come.

* Planetary Telescope Mission.  One meter telescope which was
initiated as US-German project but has turned into a ESA study.  Will
also carry a piggy-back extreme-UV telescope with grazing incidence
optics.  Main telescope to have the following instruments, Imaging
Spectrometer, CCD Camera with an field of 105 arcseconds and a
resolution near or better than 0.1 arcseconds, UV Imaging
Spectrograph, Photon Counting Camera with 0.025 arcsecond resolution
at 100 nm and a Infrared spectrometer

* Astro-D. Joint Japan-U.S. X-ray astronomy telescope satellite
mission scheduled for launch in Feb. 1993.  Responsibilites are split
between: ISAS (the Institute for Space and Aeronautical Science); The
University of Tokyo; Goddard Space Flight Center; MIT and Penn State.
Four sets of conical foil mirrors to image X-rays onto four detectors.
Coverage up to 12 KeV.  Astro-D will offer non-dispersive
spectroscopy in the X-ray range 3-4 orders of magnitude more
sensitive than the FPCS on Einstein, and a factor of 3-4 higher
resolution than the ROSAT mission.  Likely that Astro-D will preceed
its technical competitors, AXAF and XMM, by nearly a decade (current
dates for AXAF and XMM are 1998.)

* XXM. ESA Cornerstone 2000 mission.  3000 sq. cm X-ray mission with
parallel 30-cm optical telescope to provide simulataneous optical and
UV photometry.  Groups involved include: EPIC from the UK, Thomson from
France, and Max-Planck.  Many sub-groups contributing, including some
U.S..  Launch date and cost?

*  Small class Explorers (SMEX) (Payload < 200kg)

  * SWAS, Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, is being developed at
    SAO.  Its purpose is to map spectral lines in the submillimeter.
    Target line at 557 GHz (Water).  Other targets include 492 GHz (C I),
    487 GHz (O2) and 550 GHz (12CO).  Last heard official launch date was
    June, 1995 using a Pegasus.

*  Delta class Explorers

  * X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE).  To study "soft" X-rays (1 to 100-KeV)
    is developed at NASA/Goddard and MIT.  Currently plan to use the
    same explorer platform as EUVE with 1995 shuttle mission to swap
    out instruments.
  * EUVE, or Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer.  Out of Berkeley.  To survey
    sky last unexplored frontier, waveband from 100 to 900 A.  Launch
    set for May 28 on Delta II.
  * FUSE, or Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Explorer.  To make
    spectroscopic observations shorter than 120 nm.  Will bridge
    wavelength gap between HST and AXAF.  $70 million with 1999 launch.
    Suppose to fly on XTE's platform (guidance and communications), but
    Bahcall report recommends sooner launch on separate platform
  * Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE).  To study the isotopic and
    elemental abundances of cosmic rays across a broad range of
    wavelengths.   1997 launch.

                          Part 5

                Other Ground Based Telescopes

* Cosmic-ray telescope (Fly's Eye). Follow-up to current Fly's Eye
telescope, with factor of 10 increase in sensitivity and better
resolution.  Energy range of 10^19 to 10^20 eV.  $15 million.

* GRANITE, 11-meter reflector in on Mt. Hopkins for detecting very high
energy gamma rays.  Detection is via Cherenkov radiation emitted in
the upper atmosphere.  The mount from a surplus solar-energy
collector and has already been installed.  Will operate in stereo (120
meter baseline) from the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory gamma ray
telescope.  Saw first light 13 September, full operations in November,
1991. Dedication scheduled for January 22, 1992, at the 7600-foot
level of Mt. Hopkins, Arizona.  Operated by the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory, Iowa State University, the University of
Michigan, Purdue University, University College, Dublin; St. Patrick's
College, Maynooth; and the University of Leeds.  It is funded largely by
the U.S. Department of Energy but also by NASA and the Smithsonian
Scholarly Studies Fund.  NOTE: I'll probably delete this project since it
appears to be completed.

* LIGO, Large Interferometer Gravity Wave Observatory (?), two four
kilometer long detectors to attempt to discover gravity waves.  Need
third (hopefully in Europe) to determine direction of source.
Caltech/MIT to build, but open to national community.  Also involved:
Stanford, University of Colorado and Syracuse.  Cost: $211 million
including first set of detectors.  Time scale?

* Super-Kamiokade - Neutrino detector 1 km underground in Japan's
Gifu Prefecture.  Institute of Cosmic Ray Research of Tokyo
University.  50,000 tons of water with 11,200 photomultiplier tubes.
Estimated cost of $64 million.  Completion in 1996.

                          Part 6

                   Large Amateur Projects

* Group 70.  An 1.8-meter amateur optical telescope with a planned
configuration of a classical Cassegrain (f/3 primary, f/10 overall) on a
computer-controlled alt-azimuth fork mounting.  The group has blank
with grinding machine under construction.  Looking at four sites in CA.
Projected cost about $1 million.  Lots of volunteer work and donations
for funding.

* AAC, or Amateur Astronomy Centre.  Near Lancashire, England.  Large
amateur based project including planetarium is building a 1-meter
cassegrain and currently has a .76-meter newtonian (dobsonian).

* LEAP (Lake Erie Astronomical Project) II.  Norm Oberly of Cleveland,
Ohio is currently building grinding machine to work a ~40-inch fused
quartz blank.  In early 1970s, Oberly made a 31-inch F/7 mirror, (LEAP
I)that is now the heart of the telescope at Warren Rupp Observatory,
Mansfield, Ohio.

* NPO, or National Public Observatory, Alpine, TX..  Maybe site of up to
ten 2-meter telescopes with many more planned.  Any information out
there on this?  Updates?  Costs, etc.?

-------------------------------------------------------------
Compiled by Robert Bunge. Culled from various newspaper, magazine
articles, interviews with project scienists, the Bahcall report and
with the wonderfull cooperation of USENET sci.astro net readers.
Please send additions, updates and corrections to the address below.
Perons are encouraged to distribute this listing, display it, or publish
it in newsletters free of charge, as long as due credit is given and it
is done so in it's entirety.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"So what is going to happen to all those 72-inch MMT mirrors?"  At
least a hundred aperture crazed amateurs from all over the globe.

Robert Bunge
8814 Hawthorne Ln. #203
Laurel, MD 20708
Ph [phone]