Material Selection for Far Infrared Telescope Mirrors [STUB]

Abstract: Large visible telescopes present challenging requirements for manufactured surface figure and stability. By comparison, far infrared (IR) telescopes relax many of these requirements by approx.100x. These relaxed requirements may translate into reduced cost, schedule, mass, and system complexity. This paper explores how different mirror substrate materials might take advantage of these requirements while operating in a cryogenic environment. Primary mirror materials are evaluated for an Origin…