Abstract

In 2009, NASA plans to launch the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) to the L2 point, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. With a 6-meter diameter mirror, NGST is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope with 5 times the collecting aperture. As part of NASA’s Origins Program, the ten-year observing mission will search for the “first light” of the universe. NGST will provide astronomers with unparalleled light collection, mid-infrared sensitivity, spatial resolution and field of view. Mirror technology is critical to the system’s success. The hard part is solving the problem of how to launch a 6m, 600 kg, mirror into space on a 4-meter diameter rocket. Additionally, high performance is expected at operating temperatures of 50K. This paper reviews the mirror requirements and provides a status of recent development efforts.

© 2002 Optical Society of America