LSST Lid Lift

From The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, the oven lid is about to be opened for the first time in three months. This will reveal the primary and tertiary mirrors of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or LSST. The glass has been cooling and annealing in the oven since High Fire in March of 2008. The oven lid was lifted at 10 am on July 23 to reveal a perfect casting, nearly 26 tons of glass melted and spun into the approximate curvature of the telescope's mirrors. Interested onlookers hold their breath and watch the lid being lifted to its parking space on the casting mezzanine. Casting Manager Randy Lutz walks on the glass surface looking for flaws -- none are found. Mirror development will now continue with a full disassembly of the furnace, a cleanout of the refractory, and then on to grinding and polishing. Stay tuned for further developments.