In order to view exo-solar planets and to improve our knowledge of the early universe, it is important to field very large, 100-meter-class, space telescopes. To be able to practically and affordably field such instruments, it is essential to develop membrane optics that are both lighter and more compactly packagable than present space optics. We will demonstrate a significant breakthrough in membrane optics utilizing thin diffiactive lenses instead of reflective films. The uniqueness of ths approach is that dieactive lenses utilize globally-flat, easily supported, membranes, and are many orders-of-magnitude less sensitive to out-of-plane surface ripples than are reflective optics. Our flight-validation experiment will launch, deploy, and optically test a lightweight diffractive lens. This lens will be built from multiple thn glass sheets, each opticaIly patterned as a diffractive lens panel and then joined together to form a multi-segment foldable lens. The folded-up lens is tightly packaged to survive launch loads and supported after deployment by an outer rim. Its optical PSF performance is then measured by using a three-component system consisting of the diffractive lens, linked by tethers to an optical-beacon on one side, and a sensor-pod on the other.
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