![]() ![]() The tug can exert force on the hoop several methods, including direct thrust, centrifugal rotation of the tethered tug-reflector assembly, or by lowering the reflector from a high altitude balloon or more massive tug positioned in a higher orbit. The EST reflector can be accelerated along its linear axis by tethering its deployment hoop to a tug spacecraft. ![]() When the EST is simultaneously rotated around its center and accelerated along its axis of rotation, the membrane will assume a parabolic shape, thereby creating a reflector for a very large aperture telescope. ![]() The EST employs a hoop to deploy a slack reflector membrane, such as solar sail material or radio dish. This paper presents a method for creating Enormous Space Telescopes (ESTs). We can’t know what new phenomena such an instrument would find, but the Enormous Space Telescope fits the theme of breakthrough discovery outlined in his latest book, The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility (Prometheus, 2020). Zubrin explains the concept and considers how best to deploy next generation space telescopes reaching apertures as large as 1000 meters. The president of Pioneer Astronautics and founder of the Mars Society thinks we can create telescopes of extremely large aperture - and sharply lower cost - by using the physics of spinning gossamer membranes, a method suitable for early testing as a CubeSat demonstration mission. As we follow the progress of the James Webb Space Telescope through performance tests in preparation for launch, Robert Zubrin has been thinking of far larger instruments. ![]()
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