S. Korean-made 'fast tracking' telescope successfully placed in orbit

SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean-made "fast tracking" telescope has
been successfully placed in the Earth's orbit, a Seoul-based university said
Sunday.
Ewha Womans University said that its micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS)
space telescope was sent up on the Soyuz-2 at 1 a.m. Thursday (Korea time) and
placed in orbit at an altitude of 800km.
The telescope, built into Russia's Tatiana-2 scientific satellite, has been
checked and is currently operating normally, the university said.
MEMS is the first of its kind in the world and is capable of following events
like lightning and the movement of super-fast projectiles.
Such phenomenal tracking ability is possible because the large number of
micro-mirrors are designed to move independently and align themselves at the best
possible angle to collect light, essential for good imaging. Ordinary reflector
telescopes use a single mirror to collect light, requiring them to move their
entire frames to catch images not directly in front of them. This process takes
time and can result in missed images.
Experts that made the telescope claim it can successfully follow a bullet that is
moving a meter away from the lens.
Ewha researchers said that the main function of the telescope will be to take
pictures of mega-lightning events that have rarely been documented on film
because they streak upwards from clouds. It will also be used collect gamma ray
bursts that occur in space. The bursts are currently the largest explosions that
take place in space but happen at random, making them effectively impossible to
track using normal telescopes.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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