Developing a Giant Space Mirror

Oct. 24 -- Scientists have figured out how to make mirrors that are so light that it should be possible to put colossal telescopes in orbit that will dwarf the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble is the pride of the astronomical community, and it has thrilled us with crystal-sharp images of distant wonders, but it is already an antique. Its primary mirror was designed to withstand the rigors of launch and the demands of space, but it's a solid chunk of glass nearly 8 feet (2.4 meters) in diameter.

It isn't possible to make a bigger Hubble and launch it into space using that technology, which is essentially the same technology that is used to build ground-based telescopic mirrors. So scientists have known for a long time that if they wanted to build bigger space telescopes, they would have to get the weight down. Way down.

Reflecting Ourselves From Space

They've done just that at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and they feel so confident they're even talking about building mirrors larger than a football field that could be placed in orbit high above the Earth. But instead of facing out, these mirrors would face in, looking at the Earth instead of into space. A mirror that large could provide high-resolution images of half of the globe, allowing scientists to keep track of weather systems, fires, and all sorts of things.

The mirror would be in geosynchronous orbit 22,241 miles above the Earth, so it would travel at just the right speed to remain in a fixed position relative to the ground.

Of course, scientists are a long ways away from building such a monster mirror, but they're a lot closer now to building a large telescope that will pick up where the Hubble leaves off. To get there, they had to throw out the rule book.

Instead of mirrors that would be so rigid they could withstand all sorts of stresses, scientists had to learn how to make mirrors that are so flimsy they could be flexed into the right shape while the mirror is in space.

The challenge to come up with the technology to do that was given to the Optical Sciences Center and the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab at the University of Arizona. The lab's James H. Burge is in charge of developing a 2-meter prototype mirror for NASA's "Next Generation Space Telescope," which is scheduled to be launched in 2009.