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Surplus Equipment from the Department of Energy (1Mar95)
(from NSO, NOAO Newsletter No. 41, 1 March 1995)

In view of the current budget climate, the National Solar
Observatory/Sacramento Peak has been aggressively pursuing surplus
property from various governmental agencies including the Department of
Defense and the Department of Energy.  Recently, several members of
NSO's staff have screened optical property at Los Alamos National
Laboratory.  This property became available with the cancellation of the
Antares and Aurora projects.  The Antares 10.6 m IR Co2 laser uses
diamond-turned optics for ICF and requires many precision optical elements
to split its beam into 96 separate pulses, form them into a continuous optical
"train," and then bring the beam to a focus on an ICF target.  Both systems
use state-of-the-art optical sub-systems for alignment and beam transport.

As a result of NSO's contacts and screening, approximately $400K worth of
equipment has been received, including a SORL alignment telescope for the
NOAO Optical Lab.  Additionally, several Hextek mirrors of varying sizes
and specifications, a 44" fused silica mirror, two large optical benches, a
vacuum leak detector and many miscellaneous mounts and frames were
received.  By reutilizing surplus equipment and materials from other
governmental sources, NSO is able to supplement the ever-decreasing
equipment budget and maintain state-of-the-art instruments.

Robert Rentschler, Roger Carmichael

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