NASA reveals prototype telescope for gravitational wave observatory
On May 20, the full-scale Engineering Development Unit Telescope for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, still in its shipping frame, was moved within a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Credit: NASA/Dennis Henry
NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources.
The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of spacecraft distributed in a vast configuration larger than the Sun. Each side of the triangular array will measure nearly 1.6 million miles, or 2.5 million kilometers.
“Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will both transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA is supplying all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The prototype, called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope, will guide us as we work toward building the flight hardware.”
The Engineering Development Unit Telescope, which was manufactured and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, arrived at Goddard in May. The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared lasers and to reduce heat loss from a surface exposed to cold space since the telescope will operate best when close to room temperature.
The prototype is made entirely from an amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. The material is widely used for telescope mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures.
The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.
Media Contacts
Francis Reddy
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
francisreddy@live.com
Office: 301-286-4453
Claire Andreoli
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Office: 301-286-1940
All latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy
This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.
innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.
Newest articles
New fingerprint mass spectrometry method
… paves the way to solving the proteome. The new data-driven technique gives scientists a way to accurately measure the mass of individual proteins using nanoscale devices. Caltech scientists have…
Robot-assisted laser procedure aims to minimize surgical risks
Spinal canal stenosis – a bony narrowing of the spinal canal – can be agonizing. If it presses on the spinal cord, it comes to chronic pain and paralysis. Surgical…
Improved materials for microchip interconnections
Fraunhofer IPMS and BASF celebrate ten years of collaboration. More power, more energy-efficiency, more complexity – manufacturers of modern microchips are constantly facing new challenges, also regarding the electrical connections…