Unique Lift System Enables Installation and Servicing of Large Telescope Mirrors

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), under construction atop 8,737-foot El Peñón peak in northern Chile, is a partnership project of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE). The goal of the LSST, scheduled to be fully operational in 2022, is to conduct a ten-year survey that will deliver a 200-petabyte set of images and data addressing some of the most pressing questions about the structure and evolution of the universe and the objects within it. The LSST will conduct a deep survey over an enormous area of sky and do it with a frequency that enables images of every part of the visible sky to be obtained every few nights. This mode will continue for ten years to achieve astronomical catalogs thousands of times larger than have been previously compiled.