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I have always place diamond turning and aerospace composites part/tooling very high on my list of high stakes manufacturing. The process that this mirror goes

I have always place diamond turning and aerospace composites part/tooling very high on my list of high stakes manufacturing. The process that this mirror goes through, just redefined high stakes for me. Think about it, if somebody or something makes an error with any significance. Bolt wasn't secured, sensor calibration was off, etc. The entire project is derailed by years. Just getting new material, will take at least a year based on the video. In aerospace, usually it's alot of money to scrap a part. But then you call up your supplier, and they can make another one "quickly". With this, you have no wiggle. At all. I'm curious how they manage risk/failure modes on their team/facility/machines with a project so critical. Especially since the entire project has a QTY output of less than 10 over a few years.

peterburkimsher 9y ago
An earthquake could destroy everything - not only during construction but after installation in Chile as well. Still, parking the telescope in Chile is easier to fix than Hubble (which has its own famous repair story).
batbomb 9y ago
You think the manufacturing is high stakes? They ship all the equipment for telescopes together on the same ship, because if you lose the mirror you're basically fucked anyway. You're at the mercy of the interstate, the shiphyards, the ship, the seas, the canals, the other shipyards, the other highways, the roads, the drivers, and a bunch of other things. Manufacturing is important, but it's a lab environment. Getting the stuff where it needs to go is the messy bit. This even goes into the design. The reason all the telescopes above La Serena are curiously near 8.4M wide is because there's a tunnel which is about 9M wide.
Bjartr 9y ago
Or like the Hubble, where, effectively, a single area of chipped paint on part of the mirror grinding toolchain almost caused the entire 20+ years in the making project to fail.

peterburkimsher 9y ago

An earthquake could destroy everything - not only during construction but after installation in Chile as well. Still, parking the telescope in Chile is easier to fix than Hubble (which has its own famous repair story).

batbomb 9y ago

You think the manufacturing is high stakes? They ship all the equipment for telescopes together on the same ship, because if you lose the mirror you're basically fucked anyway. You're at the mercy of the interstate, the shiphyards, the ship, the seas, the canals, the other shipyards, the other highways, the roads, the drivers, and a bunch of other things. Manufacturing is important, but it's a lab environment. Getting the stuff where it needs to go is the messy bit. This even goes into the design. The reason all the telescopes above La Serena are curiously near 8.4M wide is because there's a tunnel which is about 9M wide.

Bjartr 9y ago

Or like the Hubble, where, effectively, a single area of chipped paint on part of the mirror grinding toolchain almost caused the entire 20+ years in the making project to fail.