NASA launches optics manufacturing center

A new Space Optics Manufacturing Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, AL) has been opened by NASA. The main objective is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for NASA programs in the next century. Already the center is sponsoring the development by the private sector of lightweight mirrors and optics for the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The center, which has capabilities for optical fabrication, accurate surface measurement, optics testing, and diamond turning, will develop industrial standards for large optical metrology, under an agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, MD).