atlanTTic advises the ESA on the design of space telescopes with enhanced heat resistance

Work by members of the Aerospace Technology group at atlanTTic, a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of proven scientific excellence within the Galician university system, will advise the European Space Agency on the design of space telescopes with enhanced heat resistance.

Aeronautical engineer and group member Uxía García Luis has developed a thermoelastic analysis system based on the case studies of the two telescopes operated by the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC in its Spanish initials). Since September, she has been participating in two of the group’s projects funded by the Ministry of Science and the ESA that will lead to progress in this study and the optical assessment. “My thesis focused on thermoelastic aspects, more related to heat and structural analysis. Now, with the ESA project, I will be able to move on to a second phase more closely  related to optical evaluation, which is known as Structural Thermal Optical Performance (STOP),” she explained.

“For many years now, analyses like these have been carried out prior to designing the structure, in order to decide in which parts non-deformable materials should be used so that the optics are not affected. However, due to their complexity, to date their use has been limited to large projects. They imply mastering three different disciplines that must then be combined in practice, which is also extremely difficult, hence the need for the ESA to publish these regulations”, the researcher explained. 

“The ESA takes a slightly different approach to the problem, but we use an uncertainty method to detect which parameters will have the greatest effect on the telescope optics. This will enable the engineers responsible for the design to focus their efforts on solving the problems that pose the greatest challenge for the telescope’s capacity”, the atlanTTIC engineer added.