gemini9601 — Organization Release
Second Gemini Mirror Blank Fused
30 January 1996: Fifty-five blocks of low-expansion ULE™ glass were successfully fused together at Corning's Canton, New York facility today to form the second Gemini primary mirror blank. The resulting blank is over 8.1 meters in diameter, 27 cm thick, and weighs approximately 32,000 kg. It is the second of two that Corning is fabricating for the Gemini 8-M Telescopes Project, and comes only three months after the delivery of the first Gemini mirror blank.
