Technique Links

Glass Loading

Casting

Lifting

Cleaning

Grinding

Polishing

Testing

Integration

Shipping

Mirror/Cell Integration Techniques

	Installing a 6.5-m mirror in its transport box. The blue arms on the box bolt to the load spreaders bonded to the back of the mirror. This box was loaded on a freighter at Long Beach, California (Port of Los Angeles) for the two-week voyage to Coquimbo, in Northern Chile.  From there it was transported overland on the Pan Americana (highway) to the site at Las Campanas Observatory.
	The LVDT's (linear variable differential transducers)  in the polishing cell monitor position, without controlling it. The polishing cells have passive support systems. Also in the picture are the white ventilation nozzles (vertical orientation)  that are used to drive the glass temperature to ambient lab temperature by blowing conditioned air through them into the mirror hexagonal core cells. The white mirror support pucks and silver load spreaders are also visible.
	An overhead view of the mirror cell showing the static supports being installed onto the LBT cell faceplate. These devices support the mirror when the active support system is turned off.
	Charlene Moss, Robert Lopez (hat), and Dave Sakacs install static supports, i.e., the spring-like wire baskets. Charlene Moss is using an autolevel to optically measure the heights of the supports relative to the cell faceplate. The position of these devices must be set to within +0.5 mm.
	Dave Sakacs adjusts a static support while Charlene Moss measures the vertical position with the autolevel. Robert Lopez is supervising the operation and recording the data.