Lunar liquid mirror telescope: structural concepts.

The potential of a return of human presence to the Moon, raises the possibility of significant lunar infrastructure and with it the possibility of astronomical installations which can make use of the lunar surface as a stable platform and take advantage of the lack of atmosphere. Studies have been done in the US and Canada on the feasibility of such installations, and in particular studies of large lunar liquid mirror telescopes have been performed. We report here on the structural design concepts undertaken for one of these studies. Copyright 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibitedScience, Faculty ofPhysics and Astronomy, Department ofReviewedFacult