MIT researchers offered small satellites to guide vast space telescopes

MIT researchers offered small satellites to guide vast space telescopes- London: Engineers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have proposed that in the near future giant binoculars such NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope can be worked together for a large number of small spacecraft.

To study the planets beyond our solar system, NASA engineers are developing designs for next-generation space telescopes. These include “Segmented” binoculars with many small mirrors, which can be collected or disabled to create a very large telescope once launched into space.

MIT researchers offered small satellites to guide vast space telescopes

In order to keep these mega-scopes stable, the team of MIT said that small satellites can go together side by side and can act as “guide stars”, in order to calibrate the system, better and more accurate pictures To create a telescope, a laser back can be pointed out by a distant world.

To stabilize the system, the use of laser light from the second Showbox-size spacecraft reduces the demand for precision in a large-segment telescope, saving time and money, and allowing more flexible telescopic designs.

“The author said that in the future, we may be able to create a telescope which is slightly floppy, slightly less internally stable,”If the flaws in the telescope motor or gear were creating your telescope to track a little faster or slower, then you could see your guide star on the cross-hairs through eyes, and after staying in touch for a long time Keep it centered slowly, “he said. The paper was published in the Astronomical Journal.

MIT researchers offered small satellites to guide vast space telescopes

Douglas mentioned that a single guide star can follow the “gaze” of a telescope, traveling from one star to another, the telescope changes its observation goals.

However, with this smaller spaceship will need to distance hundreds of thousands of miles along the telescope, because only different stars can be seen in the reposition of the telescope. 

Douglas said instead, a little fleet of guide stars can be deployed to the entire sky to help stabilize a telescope.

Studies have also shown that the new laser guide star designs are possible with existing technologies, and this system can fit completely within a small-sat about the size of a cubic foot.