The FAST is a SBIR Phase II project managed by MSFC and contracted to Blue Line Engineering. The FAST is a deployable telescope 1/8 the scale of the NGST. The FAST has a cluster of seven primary mirror segments that, when fully deployed, give a full 1-meter aperture. The FAST has a telescoping deployable secondary mirror tower, much like the NGST concepts. The FAST also accommodates segment actuators, edge sensors, a wavefront sensor and ancillary optical elements.

The Phase II product can be used either in a laboratory on an optical bench for experimentation or out in the field as an imaging telescope observing celestial targets. Blue Line intends to use the Phase II product as a prototype for production of a line of FAST telescopes that will satisfy the demands of high-end amateur astronomers and astronomy departments of small colleges and universities. The FAST is capable of being folded up and stowed in the trunk of a standard size automobile. At the observing site, minimal effort is required to fully deploy the 1-meter aperture telescope. Ultimately, FAST will make big-aperture astronomy more affordable, portable, and more readily available to astronomy enthusiasts. At the same time it will establish a new paradigm for smaller, faster, cheaper space telescopes.

[view FAST Mock-up]