The next day I was full of cooperation and we made the trip to Tuscon. We parked on the west side of town and picked up the new trolley car all the way to the University of Arizona. Not only is it a beautiful campus but it is fascinating!
UA is home to the largest production of telescope mirrors in the world. Located underneath the football stadium seating area (not the football field itself, the mirror production site is mighty impressive. They are currently working on polishing the 5th mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in Chile. This baby will hold seven mirrors, each 28 feet in diameter weighing 25 tons each. This is number 5 being polished. These mirrors are ground into a parabolic shape with about 18 inches difference from the uppermost sides to the center.
If you look closely at the first picture on the far side you can see the odd computer below. This piece of equipment measures the exact pressure necessary to ensure the polishing is exactly given the required slope. Each of the cylinders sends a message to the arm about the necessary pressure for its current location on the mirror. The enormous 3 story room we are in is a constant 70-71 degrees with precise 70% humidity. Our docent remarked that the guys who work in the room are proud to have the softest skin around! (My nose was sure happy to be hydrated again.)
This picture shows the other mirror about to be "flipped over" so that they can work on the back of the mirror. 64 points of attachment aid in the lifting and flipping with no stress on any given point.
This crane can accommodate 45 TONS of lift and maneuvering.
Someone asked how thick was the foundation. Most of the foundation is 12 feet thick and rests on 50 Kevlar air bags to mitigate any vibrations. However look at the pylons holding up the flipping mechanism. The floor under each of them (there are three) is 60 feet thick!
Once the mirrors are ready to be shipped to Chile they are loaded into a specially made box that is temperature and humidity controlled, wrapped in FIVE MILES of bubble wrap (the box costs $1.5 million but is reusable, I asked) and loaded onto an extra wide flat bed headed to Long Beach to be loaded onto a ship. The flat bed leaves UA at 2:00 am and travels 2 miles an hour. I believe he said it takes a week to get there. Once it finally makes it to Chile it travels up the mountain at 1 mile an hour on another flat bed. A giant earth mover pulls it up the mountain while the tractor of the flat bed truck is pushing (in reverse). It takes two days to make the 23 mile trip. The GMT is a product of a consortium of universities and the Smithsonian.
My brain was hurting after our two hour tour but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done, Sharon!
