Wavefront Sensing and Control of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a segmented deployable telescope, utilizing 6 degrees of freedom for adjustment of the Secondary Mirror (SM) and 7 degrees of freedom for adjustment of each of its 18 segments in the Primary Mirror (PM). When initially deployed, the optical elements will be positioned to within a few mm…

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Advanced Lightweight Mirrors for Space-Based Missions

There are many current and future space-based optical systems that are leveraging large aperture or segmented aperture primary mirrors. The growth in the aperture size is driving demand for new approaches to produce large aperture, space-based optical components and/or mirror segments that are more affordable and with faster manufacturing lead times than traditional optical components…

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An Operational Update on GOES-16 and Post-Launch Status of GOES-17

NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) are a mainstay of weather forecasts and environmental monitoring in the United States. The next generation of GOES satellites, known as the GOES-R Series, represents significant advancements in the near real-time observation of severe weather across the Western Hemisphere. The GOES-R satellite, the first in the series that also…

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