Development of a Telescope Design System Using STOP Analysis

Abstract:

This research project makes progress on the development of a telescope design system that allows the user to quickly design, analyze, and specify telescope systems for space-based applications. The overarching goal of this project is to understand the relationship between off-nominal conditions (i.e., environmental variables) and telescope performance. This is accomplished by modifying an existing software system in MATLAB in order to simulate the optical performance of general lenses and mirrors that do not possess computational surfaces. These simulations are generated through two main steps: First, various interpolation techniques are tested to determine which is the most accurate in computing the positions of the surfaces at all points. Second, several methods of constructing surface normals are similarly tested to determine which provides the best reflection and focusing of incident light rays onto a screen. In addition to this ray tracing component, the project also involves importing the deformed geometry of a finite element analysis output of a real mirror model. The telescope design program is then used to identify the distortions of this mirror geometry and probe the subsequent performance. This project falls under a class of analysis called Structural Thermal Optical Performance (STOP) Analysis, and it is hoped that the completion of this project will have important implications for how optical instruments are designed.