The World's Largest Camera is Nearly Complete

upstart writes:

The future heart of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will soon make its way to Chile:

The world's largest camera sits within a nondescript industrial building in the hills above San Francisco Bay.

If all goes well, this camera will one day fit into the heart of the future Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. For the last seven years, engineers have been crafting the camera in a clean room at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif. In May 2023, if all goes according to plan, the camera will finally fly to its destination, itself currently under construction in the desert highlands of northern Chile.

[...] "We're at the stage where we've got all the camera's mechanisms fully assembled," says Hannah Pollek, a staff engineer at SLAC.

Any typical camera needs a lens, and this camera is certainly no exception. At 1.57 meters (5 feet) across, this lens is the world's largest, as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. When it's installed, it will catch light reflected through a triplet of mirrors, built separately.

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