Telescope tech using membrane optics moves to Phase 2
(Phys.org) —The United States military's advanced research arm (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA) never bored with the topic of finding smaller, less expensive launch vehicles, is now in Phase 2 of a program called MOIRE. The program is for creating first-ever images using lightweight membrane optics. MOIRE could help redefine how orbital telescopes are built, launched and used. MOIRE stands for the Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation. DARPA said, "MOIRE aims to create technologies that would enable future high-resolution orbital telescopes to provide real-time video and images of the Earth from Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)—roughly 22,000 miles above the planet's surface." This would be a step forward; size and cost constraints have prevented placing large-scale imaging satellites in GEO.