Ultralightweight structures for deployed optics

The optical support boom and related facilities for the Ultra- Lightweight Imaging Technology Experiment (UltraLITE) program at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory are described in this paper as well as the implementation of a local feedback loop to control the boom's first bending mode. The primary goal of the efforts described in this paper are to provide a relatively quiet vibration environment for optical active control experiments to be performed on the deployable optical support boom. The optical active control experiments to date are described in a companion paper.