One of the LROC Narrow Angle Cameras (NAC), photographed in a cleanroom at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego last year. The long silver tube is the baffle for straylight rejection. It is made of carbon fiber. The golden part of the NAC is the optics, a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with an aperture of about 7.7 inches (19.5 cm), which focuses the light onto a CCD line-scanner in the back (not visible). For scale, the NAC has a diameter of about 10 inches (26 cm) and a length of 27.5 inches (70 cm).
Published by Mark Robinson on 4 March 2009