M1M3 support system

This video demonstrates the response of the mirror support system to “transient human forces” – that is, in response to a person walking on the surface of the surrogate mirror. Each “dot” in the video represents the force applied at the location of one of the 156 actuators, ready to respond in situations where help is needed to hold the mirror shape. In the video, as the individual walks counter-clockwise around the surrogate mirror, you see green dots change to blue, representing the forces applied with the force balance system to counter the moving weight and keep M1M3 positioned accurately within the mirror cell. This is essential to counter forces such as those from changing gravity loads, slew inertial loads, and wind loads.