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The signing of the contract for producing the massive support structure that will hold the seven mirrors manufactured at the University of Arizona marks a major step toward completion of the next-generation ground-based telescope that promises to revolutionize our understanding and view of the universe.
At the UA, tools designed to scan alien planets for signs of life begin as chunks of glistening glass. The most recent result: the fifth mirror segment for the Giant Magellan Telescope.
The National Science Foundation has agreed to fund the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which is built around a revolutionary optical mirror setup designed at the UA. The instrument will scan large swaths of the night sky, and capture images of exploding stars, passing asteroids and other short-lived phenomena in the cosmos.
