Manufacture of primary mirror segments for the Giant Magellan Telescope

Abstract

The Richard F. Carts Mirror Lab at the University of Arizona continues the production of 8.4 m lightweight honeycomb segments for the primary mirror of the Giant Magellan Telescope. GMT will have a center segment surrounded by six identical off-axis segments, plus an additional off-axis segment to allow continuous operation as segments are removed for coating. Production highlights of the last two years include the spin-casting of Segment 5, preliminary polishing of Segment 2, and completion of the rear surface processing for Segments 3 and 4. We completed a preliminary design of the significant modifications of the test systems required for Segment 4, the center segment. We finished an upgrade of the 8.4 m polishing machine; both the upgrade and experience gained with Segment 1 have contributed to much faster polishing convergence for Segment 2. Prior to polishing Segment 2, we verified the stability and accuracy of the measurement systems by re-measuring Segment 1, achieving good agreement among multiple independent tests as well as good agreement with the original acceptance tests of Segment 1.