Milestones
The official milestones, as given in the Management Plan, are listed below. For nearly all of these, it has been decided that merging PARSEC and LGSF together would simplify matters - both in terms of documentation and because, in the end, PARSEC is a part of the LGSF. The overall timescale is limited by the research and development phase necessary for PARSEC. The development continues until the 'laser selection', at which point it is decided whether to keep the proposed master oscillator power amplifier design, or to go for the backup. In either case the design will be finalised in 2002. During the rest of that year and into 2003 the accepted version of the PARSEC laser will be built in Garching and then undergo rigorous testing until the early of 2004. Following the European Acceptance for PARSEC, the whole Laser Guide Star Facility will be merged into a single instrument. After shipping to Chile and installation at the UT4 in the autumn of 2005, we expect 'first light' at the end of January 2006, followed by an intensive commissioning phase. The AO instruments will first be tested with the LGSF in February 2006, with the aim that general observing can begin the same year.
LGSF Kick-Off | 24 October 2000 |
LGSF Preliminary Design Review | 2 April 2001 |
PARSEC Laser Selection | 14 March 2002 |
LGSF Final Design Review | 29 April 2002 |
PARSEC Acceptance Review in Europe | 10 March 2004 |
LGSF Acceptance Review in Europe | 18 August 2005 |
LGSF 'First Star' at Paranal | 28 January 2006 |
First closed loop with adaptive optics | 08 February 2006 |