Gemini multiconjugate adaptive optics system review - I. Design, trade-offs and integration

The Gemini multiconjugate adaptive optics system (GeMS) at the Gemini South telescope in Cerro Pachon is the first sodium-based multilaser guide star (LGS) adaptive optics system. It uses five LGSs and two deformable mirrors to measure and compensate for atmospheric distortions. The GeMS project started in 1999, and saw first light in 2011. It is now in regular operation, producing images close to the diffraction limit in the near-infrared, with uniform quality over a field of view of two square arcminutes. This paper is the first one in a two-paper review of GeMS. It describes the system, explains why and how it was built, discusses the design choices and trade-offs, and presents the main issues encountered during the course of the project. Finally, we briefly present the results of the system first light.