HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING BEARINGS FOR LUNAR TELESCOPE MOUNTS

A telescope to be installed on the lunar surface in the near future mu st work in a cold and dusty vacuum environment for long periods withou t on site human maintenance. To track stars, the drive mechanism must be capable of exceedingly fine steps and repeatability. Further, the u se of lightweight telescopes for obvious economic benefits burdens the requirement for stable support and rotation. Conventional contact bea rings and gear drives have numerous failure modes under such a restric tive and harsh environment. However, hybrid superconducting magnetic b earings (HSMB) fit in naturally. These bearings are stable, light, pas sive, and essentially Frictionless, allowing high precision electronic positioning control. By passive levitation, the HSMB does not wear ou t and requires neither maintenance nor power. A prototype illustrating the feasability of this application is presented.