How We’re Shrinking the Telescope: An Up-Close Look at SPIDER

[DocM]

Still 2 generations from a practical instrument, but a good start.

 

Quote

 

(Lockheed Martin PR)  Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today revealed the first images from an experimental, ultra-thin optical instrument, showing it could be possible to shrink space telescopes to a sliver of the size of todays systems while maintaining equivalent resolution.

 

Weighing 90 percent less than a typical telescope, the Segmented Planar Imaging Detector for Electro-Optical Reconnaissance (SPIDER) opens a path for extremely lightweight optical instruments, allowing for more hosted payloads or smaller spacecraft. More broadly, the sensor technology has applications for aircraft and other vehicles anywhere that depends on small optical sensors. The future could see UAVs with imagers laid flat underneath their wings, and cars could have imaging sensors that are flush against their grills.

The SPIDER project has roots in research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Lockheed Martin independently completed this phase of research at its Advanced Technology Center (ATC).

 

This is generation-after-next capability were building from the ground up, said Scott Fouse, ATC vice president. Our goal is to replicate the same performance of a space telescope in an instrument that is about an inch thick.

 

That's never been done before. Were on our way to make space imaging a low-cost capability so our customers can see more, explore more and learn more.

 

The system uses tiny lenses to feed optical data divided and recombined in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), which was originally designed for telecommunications at the University of California, Davis. Using these chips in a different way, Lockheed Martin researchers unlocked new potential for ultra-thin telescopes using a technique called interferometric imaging.

 

The tests involved a PIC aligned to a series of 30 lenses, each smaller than a millimeter across. An optical system simulated the distance from space to the ground, where scenes were illuminated and rotated. The first image included a standard bar test pattern, and the second image showed the overhead view of a complex rail yard.

 

The lenses and PIC comprise one section of a full instrument to be assembled in the next project phase. The team plans to increase the resolution and field of view in future phases.

 

The initial findings from this project were presented today at the Pacific Rim Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO-Pacific Rim) in Singapore.

 

Visuals:

 

You can learn more about this project today on Lockheed Martins Instagram story and in SPIDERs Flickr gallery: 

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5BXWE4

 

Access another infographic and a video about the project at 

 

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/SPIDER

 

 

 

[Unobscured Vision]

That's actually not a bad idea.  There's one being floated by one of the members of my little "School Group" that is ... well, quite interesting. Can't say more than that but it does hold up to peer review so far and might be built on a small-scale as a Proof-of-Concept. Might just earn him his Doctorate and all of us a patent, too -- and that's where the big bucks potentially lay. I'll be handling Materials Engineering for this and possibly the "big model" if it gets funding. We've all put in a lot of work on my buddy's design.  

 

And our Consulting Professor really digs it. Loves precision instrumentation like this stuff. The smaller the tolerances the more interest she has in it. And she's from Germany, so go figure.  

[DocM]

Segmented planar imaging is used in medicine, and this iteration could best be described as a form of optical interferometry.