May 27, 2016 - The 9-meter x 9-meter x 2-meter M1M3 mirror cell weldment, fabricated by CAID Industries, Inc. in Tucson, AZ, is now being prepared for immersion in a large oven for thermal stress relief. The oven is 32 ft x 32 ft x 12 ft and will ramp up at 100deg/hr until it reaches 1150deg. Then the mirror cell is soaked for 8 hours at 1150deg before cooling at 200deg/hr down to 600 deg. From there it’s left to cool naturally. This process starts on June 9th. Final machining is next to prepare the cell for mirror support integration in early 2017. Great progress!
Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1202910, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The DOE-funded effort to build the the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an
independent federal agency created by Congress
in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.
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