Progress report on the optical system for closed-loop testing of the Multiple Mirror Telescope adaptive secondary mirror

Steward Observatory is completing the manufacture of a deformable f/15 secondary mirror for the 6.5m Multiple Mirror Telescope conversion that will, along with the wavefront sensing system, compensate for atmospheric turbulence. A potential difficulty of an adaptive secondary mirror is the ability to verify the commanded mirror shapes of a large convex deformable surface. An optical design is presently being implemented to test the deformable mirror's closed loop control system by optically projecting an artificial star to simulate starlight in the actual telescope. The test system has been designed to verify the control system by fitting into both a laboratory test structure as well as the telescope support structure itself. The optical design relies on two wavelength computer generated holograms used to remove spherical aberration as well as aid in the alignment of the test system optics by projecting alignment patterns.