New Millennium Interferometer Laser Metrology Testbed New Millennium Interferometer Laser Metrology Testbed by

The New Millennium Interferometer Laser Metrology Testbed is a technology demonstration for a key component of the New Millennium Interferometer (NMI). For the success of NMI, NASA's proposed mission to fly a space-based interferometer, control of its position must be very precise. Laser Metrology is a powerful tool that uses interferometry to make hyper-fine distance measurements. The proposal is to use laser metrology on the NMI mission, but there is a concern that it will be difficult to implement. This experiment simulates the difficulties that the real NMI mission will have by attempting laser metrology in a twodimensional frictionless environment. The final results are very promising, but success is heavily dependent on capabilities of the available equipment. Thesis Supervisor: George Verghese Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering