Giant Magellan Telescope construction to last until at least 2028

31 Oct 2019

Newly-signed contract details “nine years of work and 1,300 tons of structural steel” before structure ready to accept mirrors.

GMTO Corp., the organization managing the development of the Giant Magellan Telescope on behalf of its U.S. and international founders, has signed a contract with MT Mechatronics and Ingersoll Machine Tools, to design, build and install the telescope’s precision steel structure.

The GMTO telescope’s primary mirror is specified to combine seven 8.4m-diameter circular segments to form an effective aperture 24.5m in diameter. To be located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the planned optical-infrared observatory is designed to explore the frontiers of astronomy, including seeking to answer one of humanity’s most pressing questions: “Are we alone?”

MT Mechatronics and Ingersoll Machine Tools, part of the Italian Camozzi Group, will design and manufacture the 1,800-ton precision mechanism, known as the telescope structure, which will hold the GMT’s optics and smoothly track celestial targets. The structure will be designed by MT Mechatronics and manufactured by Ingersoll before being installed at the observatory site in the Chilean Andes.

Mirrors installed in 2028

The total value of the telescope structure contract is $135 million. The agreement between GMTO, MT Mechatronics and Ingersoll Machine Tools will involve nine years of work and 1,300 tons of structural steel, and the structure is expected to be delivered to Chile at the end of 2025 and be ready to accept mirrors in 2028.

“Manufacturing the telescope structure is one of the biggest steps we will take on our journey to building the Giant Magellan Telescope,” said Dr. Shelton, GMTO President.

“We selected MT Mechatronics and Ingersoll Machine Tools for their commitment to quality, extensive experience with astronomical telescopes and abilities to manufacture complex precision structures, following a two-year global competition,” added Dr. James Fanson, GMTO Project Manager.

The telescope structure will hold the GMT’s seven giant mirrors in place as they bring light from distant stars and galaxies to a focus so it can be analyzed by scientific instruments mounted deep inside the telescope. The mirrors, the largest in the world, are to be made at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab.

Friction-free

When in operation, the telescope structure, complete with mirrors and instruments, will weigh 2,100 tons but will float on a film of oil just 50µm thick – allowing it to move essentially without friction as it compensates for Earth’s rotation, tracking celestial bodies in their arc across the sky. The GMT will produce images that are 10 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope in the infrared region of the spectrum.

“Being a part of an endeavor with objectives as distinguished as the Giant Magellan Telescope’s is compelling for MT Mechatronics and we’re eager to support the GMT on its quest to answer the deepest questions in astronomy,” said Thomas Zimmerer, Senior VP, Business Development Sales & Marketing, Product Development, MT Mechatronics.

“We are happy to work with GMTO and MTM to create this unique tool for the study of new worlds. The project honors and motivates all of us at Ingersoll,” said Lodovico Camozzi, CEO of Camozzi Group. “It will be a special day when the GMT’s telescope structure is completed and placed in service in Chile,” said Chip Storie, CEO of Ingersoll Machine Tools.

MT Mechatronics has over 50 years’ experience with telescopes, beginning with the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia. It was part of a European consortium constructing the European Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope antennas and was the mount designer for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Hawaii.

Since its inception in 1891, Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc. has been an iconic name in the milling machines sector, successfully serving the defense sector and then the newborn aeronautics and aerospace industry. Ingersoll has many decades of experience with manufacturing precision steel structures, including recently partnering with MT Mechatronics on the construction of the DKIST telescope mount.

The mount contract completes another significant milestone for GMTO in 2019. In March, the excavations for the foundations of the telescope’s pier and enclosure were finished, and in July the second of GMT’s seven primary mirror segments was completed and shipped to temporary storage. Casting of the sixth primary mirror segment at the University of Arizona is expected to begin in mid-2020.