This discussion is related to the philosophy and features of the telescope mirror support system.
Separate activities are underway to study mirror transportation and handling.
The following is a summary of the strategy which we have adopted. We are protecting against failures of or features in the mirror support system causing enough stress in the honeycomb structure to cause permanent damage. We shall consider failures of all the systems in the mirror cell and telescope. Cases of two simultaneous failures will be considered. Except for the lateral force, these values are well above the normal operating range of the actuators.