Technical Event
An Optical Believe It or Not: Key Lessons Learned
4 August 2025 • 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM PDT | Marriott Marquis, Catalina (Level 4, South Tower)
Session Chair: Catherine Merrill, Steward Observatory (United States)
This event is dedicated to the sharing of key optical lessons learned. Nearly all optical engineers, scientists, researchers, or managers have dealt with the unexpected. Many of these situations in hindsight are quite funny, and have buried within them key optical/managerial lessons learned. The problem with simply listing lessons learned is that as a simple listing, they are clearly hard to remember, thus history repeats itself much to our collective debit. This event will help us all remember the important take-aways by presenting a collection of small stories or optical parables from Leaders in the fields of optics and optical systems engineering.
Please note that our Lessons Learned Speakers are encouraged to embellish their material (within editorial limits), and names, places, and dates may be changed to protect the guilty, but all the take-aways will have a basis in truth as avowed by the author. Audience participation will be allowed/encouraged, as time permits.
This year's featured speaker will be Robert P. Breault, presenting on lessons learned in the field of stray light analysis.
Bob Breault can claim to be the father of stray light analysis and the stray light analysis of space-based systems since he's been working on them since 1972. He created the software to do it. He defined the terminology and the procedures that are used to this day. Such as, “Move it or block it.” and “Start from the detector.” He has analyzed at least 27 stray light test chambers around the world and continues to do so. Some of them are very elaborate, such as a 100-meter-long vacuum chamber tube for the Hubble telescope evaluation. For the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville he designed the Black Box building, 50 by 85 by 60 feet in dimensions, which was entirely black inside except for the test mirrors involved in the test setup. Both the Hubble and Redstone lab lasted at least until the 1995 era. He has also been involved in the Test Chambers of the Antares and NIF laser fusion test chambers. He has walked in the Antares tunnels as part of the design analysis.
Believe it or not he was told in most of those cases that it could not be done. Often questioned by Nobel laureates. But he did do it successfully. Often improving the signal to noise ratio by factors of 3,000 to 100,000 times such as in the Hubble Telescope. On the Hubble he only had a slide ruler in 1972. On six space-based telescopes he has had a role in the launch or no launch decision. If he had made the wrong decision, he knew he would be blamed. On special occasions he has made such decisions without making a single calculation on a device.
He can claim you all have SEEN his more recent work in space almost weekly in reports from of space probes.
Part of the Optical Modeling and Performance Predictions XV conference.
MENU: Assorted snacks and beverages will be available inside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.
This event is dedicated to the sharing of key optical lessons learned. Nearly all optical engineers, scientists, researchers, or managers have dealt with the unexpected. Many of these situations in hindsight are quite funny, and have buried within them key optical/managerial lessons learned. The problem with simply listing lessons learned is that as a simple listing, they are clearly hard to remember, thus history repeats itself much to our collective debit. This event will help us all remember the important take-aways by presenting a collection of small stories or optical parables from Leaders in the fields of optics and optical systems engineering.
Please note that our Lessons Learned Speakers are encouraged to embellish their material (within editorial limits), and names, places, and dates may be changed to protect the guilty, but all the take-aways will have a basis in truth as avowed by the author. Audience participation will be allowed/encouraged, as time permits.
This year's featured speaker will be Robert P. Breault, presenting on lessons learned in the field of stray light analysis.
Bob Breault can claim to be the father of stray light analysis and the stray light analysis of space-based systems since he's been working on them since 1972. He created the software to do it. He defined the terminology and the procedures that are used to this day. Such as, “Move it or block it.” and “Start from the detector.” He has analyzed at least 27 stray light test chambers around the world and continues to do so. Some of them are very elaborate, such as a 100-meter-long vacuum chamber tube for the Hubble telescope evaluation. For the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville he designed the Black Box building, 50 by 85 by 60 feet in dimensions, which was entirely black inside except for the test mirrors involved in the test setup. Both the Hubble and Redstone lab lasted at least until the 1995 era. He has also been involved in the Test Chambers of the Antares and NIF laser fusion test chambers. He has walked in the Antares tunnels as part of the design analysis.
Believe it or not he was told in most of those cases that it could not be done. Often questioned by Nobel laureates. But he did do it successfully. Often improving the signal to noise ratio by factors of 3,000 to 100,000 times such as in the Hubble Telescope. On the Hubble he only had a slide ruler in 1972. On six space-based telescopes he has had a role in the launch or no launch decision. If he had made the wrong decision, he knew he would be blamed. On special occasions he has made such decisions without making a single calculation on a device.
He can claim you all have SEEN his more recent work in space almost weekly in reports from of space probes.
Part of the Optical Modeling and Performance Predictions XV conference.
Event Details
FORMAT: General session with one featured speaker and live audience Q&A and general discussion.MENU: Assorted snacks and beverages will be available inside the presentation room.
SETUP: Theater style seating.