Development of processes, qualification, and de-risking for the Ariel primary mirror

The work carried out in the Ph.D. program focused on developing the optics design of the Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey (Ariel) telescope, an optical/infrared mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), whose primary mirror is an off-axis paraboloid mirror measuring 1.2 · 0.7m. The novelty of the telescope is that both the mirrors and the telescope structure will be made of aluminium, and the primary mirror will be made of bare aluminium without a thick hard coating. The choice is mainly due to the thermo-mechanical properties of the material, and the usage of the same material for the whole structure will allow better heat exchange between the mirror and the opt…