Hughes
Danbury Optical Systems
| COMPANY/LOCATION: |
Hughes Danbury Optical Systems, a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft, Danbury,
Connecticut |
| PRODUCT: |
Electro-optical systems |
| YEARS IN BUSINESS: |
25 |
| EMPLOYEES: |
800 |
| SITUATION: |
Hughes Danbury Optical Systems (HDOS) is producing the optical elements
for the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, or AXAF, for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). AXAF is the next generation
of space telescope scheduled for deployment by NASA late in this century.
HDOS is a subcontractor to TRW, which has the prime contract with NASA
for the AXAF. Fabrication of the cylindrical mirrors involves calibrating
reference masters for the program under extremely precise standards. The
masters, which measure up to 40 inches (1.016 meters) in length, must be
certified to be accurate within plus or minus 36 millionths of an inch.
HDOS has a calibration requirement that the masters be recertified every
year. |
| PROJECT: |
Because calibration is a critical requirement, HDOS's search for a
facility that could meet strict accuracy standards led to the Metrology
Center at the Oak Ridge Centers for Manufacturing Technology. The AXAF
project requires that the optics be measured against a standard that can
be certified as accurate for eight different bars. ORCMT has a contract
with HDOS to maintain certification of the masters to meet the company's
calibration requirement. The ORCMT Metrology Program has the capability
to calibrate end standards and step gauges up to 1.35 meters long to a
certified accuracy of 0.7 micrometer equivalent to about one-hundredth
the diameter of a human hair. The accuracy of the measurements at ORCMT
are certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The service combines NIST's measurement expertise and ORCMT's advanced
technological capabilities, including a high-precision, large-volume Moore
M-60 coordinate measuring machine. |
| RESULTS: |
HDOS has been extremely pleased with both the quality and support of
the work performed in Oak Ridge. In one recent example, one of the masters
being used on the AXAF project was damaged and had to be pulled off-line
and production work arounds used until the master was repaired and recalibrated.
The repaired master was sent to Oak Ridge for recalibration. The time elapsed
from the time HDOS notified ORCMT of their need until the master was repaired,
recalibrated, and back on-line, was six days. The program manager for the
AXAF project at HDOS said the company has not found any other facility
capable of performing the critical service that ORCMT provides. ORCMT,
he said, is the sole source of that service. The ORCMT ability to consistently
meet both schedule and technical needs has minimized production downtime
and avoided potentially costly delays. "We don't know what the program
would do without that capability," the program manager said. |
| PARTNERS:
 
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Technical assistances provided to the private sector by the Oak Ridge
Centers for Manufacturing Technology (ORCMT) and its manufacturing extension
partners throughout the United States.
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