Title:
RING OPTICAL INTERFEROMETER
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO2004001457
Kind Code:
A3
Abstract:
A multi-aperture interferometric optical system (10) collects light propagating from a source of light and develops overlapping diffraction patterns (119) on an optical detector (70) that produces output signals for processing to form an image corresponding to the diffraction patterns. A preferred embodiment of the invention is a large aperture orbiting, earth-watching ring interferometric optical system configured such that there is no macro-structure pointing. Four mirror-ring structures (28, 44, 52, 60) direct incoming light to a multi-spectral primary optical detector that acquires light-pattern information from which an image can be derived.
Inventors:
RHOADS GEOFFREY B (US)
Application Number:
PCT/US2003/019683
Publication Date:
May 21, 2004
Filing Date:
June 20, 2003
Export Citation:
Assignee:
RHOADS GEOFFREY B (US)
International Classes:
G02B17/06; G02B23/02; G02B23/16; (IPC1-7): G02B5/08
Foreign References:
| US4981354A | 1991-01-01 | |||
| US5108168A | 1992-04-28 | |||
| US5730117A | 1998-03-24 | |||
| US5905591A | 1999-05-18 |
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