Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday signed a multilateral agreement admitting India’s participation in the development of the Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii.
The Cabinet rapidly cleared the project and India has agreed to spend Rs.1299.8 crore on it over the next decade. Besides learning about the universe, India will gain the technology to manufacture fine aspherical mirror segments from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This technology, say experts, will form the basis of the next generation of spy satellites.
TMT will contain 492 hexagonal mirror segments of 82 different kinds. These will behave like a single mirror with an aperture of 30-metre diameter. This large collecting area of 650 square metres is thrice as sensitive as the Hubble Space Telescope.
India’s role will primarily be to create the control systems and software that keep the mirrors aligned and collect the data.
The control system is an intricate process involving edge sensors that detect the mutual displacement of mirrors, actuators to correct their alignment, and the segment support assembly. These will be manufactured by General Optics (Asia) in Puducherry, Avasarala Technologies and Godrej in Bengaluru respectively.
G.C. Anupama of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics explained that India would also manufacture 100 aspherical mirror segments in Hoskote near Bengaluru. “These thin glass slabs made in Japan have minimal expansion when heated. We will apply a protective layer and a reflective coating using technology from Caltech,” she told The Hindu .
“Initially we will start off by producing two a year and after the technology transfer is complete, we will make one every fortnight,” she added. The telescope is expected to be ready by 2024.
Institutions from the United States, Canada, Japan and China are also participating in the construction of the world’s largest telescope on Mount Mauna Kea. This telescope, 4207 metres above sea level, may cost more than $1.47 billion.