Figure 9: Space interferometer and outrigger mirrors for giant baselines of 1,000 to 100,000 kilometers, usable for neutron star observing.

  1. Normal interferometer mode, with free-flying telescopes Ti, Tj pointed axially. The nearly flat out-rigger mirrors Ai, Aj are unused, but travel towards their assigned location for the subsequent observing session with the giant baseline;
  2. Giant baseline mode, with Ti, Tj pointed towards the out-rigger mirrors. The neutron star image is focused by Ai, Aj onto the telescope apertures. Background stars appearing around Ai, Aj provide information on the array attitude, while laser beams (not shown) define its internal geometry