P.C. McGuire, M. Lloyd-Hart, J.R.P. Angel, G.Z. Angeli, R.L. Johnson, B.C. Fitz-Patrick, W.B. Davison, R.J. Sarlot, C.J. Bresloff, J.M. Hughes, S.M. Miller, P. Schaller, F.P. Wildi, M.A. Kenworthy, R.M. Cordova, M.L. Rademacher, M.H. Rascon, M. Langlois, T. Roberts, D. McCarthy, J.H. Burge, T.A. Rhoadarmer, J.C. Shelton, B. Jacobsen, P. Salinari, G. Brusa, C. Del Vecchio, R. Biasi, D. Gallieni, D.G. Sandler, T.K. Barrett,
The Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) is currently being upgraded to a single 6.5 meter diameter mirror and should see first light at prime focus in September 1999. We are constructing an F/15 adaptive optics (AO) system which will be an integral part of the new MMT with first light in early 2000, removing the effect of atmospheric turbulence so that images near the diffraction limit in the near-infrared can be achieved. The deformable element of this system is a 64 cm diameter secondary mirror composed of a 1.8 mm thick thin glass shell and 336 voice coil actuators operating at 1 kHz. This is the first system that uses the secondary mirror as the correcting element, which means thermal background is minimized. We will primarily present an overview of the adaptive optics technique, followed by select results which will include the laboratory testing of the AO system components with a solid secondary, data taken with the wavefront sensor camera at prime focus of the new MMT, and tests of the secondary mirror control system.