Robots could assemble extremely large telescopes in space

Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have designed an extremely large telescope that can be assembled by a robot in space to help enhance the ability of astronomers to peer deep into the cosmos.
A new concept in space telescope design makes use of a modular structure and an assembly robot to build an extremely large telescope in space, performing tasks in which astronaut fatigue would be a problem.
Ground-based telescopes are limited by atmospheric effects and by their fixed location on the Earth.
Space-based telescopes do not have those disadvantages but have other limits, such as overall launch vehicle volume and mass capacity.

Design of a modular space telescope that overcomes restrictions on volume and mass may allow telescope components to be launched incrementally, enabling the design and deployment of extremely large space telescopes.
The robotically assembled modular space telescope (RAMST) designed by Nicolas Lee and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology and the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US focuses primarily on a robotic system to perform tasks in which astronaut fatigue would be a problem.

"Our goal is to address the principal technical challenges associated with such an architecture, so that future concept studies addressing a particular science driver can consider robotically assembled telescopes in their trade space," said researchers including Rudranarayan Mukherjee, from the Jet Propulsion Lab.

The main features of the proposed architecture include a mirror built with a modular structure, a robot to put the telescope together and provide ongoing servicing, and advanced metrology technologies to support the assembly and operation of the telescope.
An optional feature is the potential ability to fly the unassembled components of the telescope in formation.
The system architecture is scalable to a variety of telescope sizes and would not be not limited to particular optical designs.
"The capability to assemble a modular space telescope has other potential applications," said Harley Thronson, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre.
"For example, astronomers using major ground-based telescopes are accustomed to many decades of operation, and the Hubble Space Telescope has demonstrated that this is possible in space if astronauts are available," Thronson said.

"A robotic system of assembly, upgrade, repair, and resupply offers the possibility of very long useful lifetimes of space telescopes of all kinds," he said.
The study was published in the Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments and Systems (JATIS).