Light Weight, Scalable Manufacturing of Telescope Optics

NASA's future X-ray astronomy missions will require X-ray optics that have large effective areas, are lightweight, and cost effective. Recent X-ray telescopes, such as the Chandra Observatory, utilized reflectors made from zerodur which were up to 20mm thick. The thickness of these reflectors, as well as the mass, limited the number of nested optics that could be implemented. Current state of the art telescopes, such as those found on XMM-Newton, utilize reflectors made from an electroforming process with shell thicknesses on the order of 1mm. This reduction in thickness has enabled a larger number of reflectors to be implemented, 58 nested reflectors in the case of XMM-Newton, but the weight still needs to be significantly reduced for future missions. The proposed innovation seeks to improve upon the current state of the art by replacing much of the NiCo with a stiff, lightweight, ceramic material. A thermal spray process, which was tested for feasibility in Phase I, will be enhanced to allow for the deposition of porosity graded alumina onto the rear surface of the NiCo reflector. Several diagnostic techniques will be employed to adjust the in-flight particle state as well as the residual stress of the coating as to not adversely affect the micro roughness of the optical surface as well as the figure accuracy of the optic. The gradation of the alumina layer will allow for CTE matching with the electroformed shell as well as optimization of the ceramic stiffness. By reducing the NiCo layer from 1mm to less than 100um with a 200um alumina layer as the support structure the overall mass of the telescope can be greatly reduced allowing for a greater number of reflectors to be nested.

X-ray astronomy is highly dependent upon focusing optics as illustrated by the profound influence that results from the Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku observatories are having upon astrophysics. The next generation of NASA Physics-of-the-Cosmos missions will build on the discoveries of current missions and will take us to new stages of discovery. X-ray measurements address many of the major scientific objectives of NASA. They involve the entire range of X-ray emitting objects from the most distant supermassive black holes to planets and comets in our own solar system. Thus, X-ray astronomy will continue to be an important activity of NASA. Future X-ray explorer missions, such as a successor to Nu-STAR, would benefit greatly from the improved resolution of the optics discussed above. Future X-ray astronomy missions such as Smart-X will require large effective area and will utilize a segmented optics approach. Our technology studies to fabricate lighter weight substrates may be useful not only for the full-shell optics but also for substrates which can be used in the segmented optics of such future missions.

While the development focuses on X-ray optics, significant possibilities exist for multi-spectral systems (i.e. UV, visible, infrared). These applications can be applied to the area of defense telescopes, commercial space exploration and medical imaging. The proposed innovation of layered material assembly for supporting the precise X-ray optical surface can be applied to other applications which require surface conforming ability, large area deposition, material versatility, and cost effective, non-vacuum manufacturing. The hybrid manufacturing technology being investigated in this program combining metal alloy plating with ceramic or composite backing technology can be contemplated for expanded applications in DoD and commercial sectors. This methodology can also be used to fabricate novel projectile systems such as graded liners for gun-barrels with smooth internal surface with light weight backing. It can enable 3D forming of complex hydraulic cylinders, cavities, in general aviation systems. Thermal spray can also be used to augment general plating technologies by adding material a much higher rate and speed so as to minimize the amount of plating time required. Additionally, the advances made through this program have the potential to influence a broad sector of current thermal spray related applications including manufacturing of tubular solid oxide fuel cells, large gas separation membranes, thermal barrier coatings, chromium-plate replacement coatings etc.

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