Hubble

The mirror and the optical system as a whole were the most important parts of the telescope design, and are subject to special demands. Normally, telescope mirrors are made with a tolerance of about one tenth the wavelength of visible light, but since the space telescope was designed for observations in the range from ultraviolet to near infrared, and the resolution was to be ten times higher than that of the ground equipment, admission to the manufacture of its main mirror was set at 1 / 20 the wavelength of visible light, or about 30 nm.

Perkin-Elmer Company intended to use the new machines with numerical control for the manufacture of mirrors specified form. Kodak Company has received a contract for the manufacture of spare mirrors, using traditional methods of polishing, in the event of unforeseen problems with the technology neaprobirovannymi (mirror, manufactured by Kodak, is currently in the museum Smithsonian Institution). The works on the main mirror was begun in 1979, was used for the manufacture of glass with ultra-low coefficient of expansion. To reduce the weight of the mirror consisted of two surfaces - top and bottom connected by lattice design of cellular structures.

Work on polishing the mirror continued until May 1981, had been thwarted by the initial deadline and significantly exceeded the budget. In the records of that period, NASA expressed doubts about the competence of the management of the company Perkin-Elmer, and her ability to successfully complete the project of this importance and complexity. In order to save funds by NASA to cancel your order at the back mirror and moved the date of launch in October 1984. Final work completed by the end of 1981, after application of aluminum coating reflects the thickness of 75 nm and a protective coating of magnesium fluoride in a thickness of 25 nm.

Despite this, doubts about the competence of Perkin-Elmer remained, since the dates the work on the remaining components of the optical system is constantly relegated, while the budget of the project grew. Schedules provided by the company, NASA has described as «the uncertain and changing every day», and has postponed the launch of the telescope until April 1985. Nevertheless, the timing continued to stall, delay has risen by an average of one month each quarter, and grew up in the final stage for a day every day. NASA was forced to start another double move, first in March and then in September 1986. By that time, the total project budget has increased to 1.175 billion U.S. dollars.