Uploads from NASA Webb Telescope, tagged webb

The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam)

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:24:34 -0700

A photo of our flight Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). This is the instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope that will return stunning new images of the universe.

Credit: Lockheed Martin

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The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam)

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:24:41 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam)

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:24:37 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Inspection of a flight primary mirror segment

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:31:05 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Webb telescope Quality Engineer Matt Magsamen and Product Assurance Engineer Jessica Lieberman inspect one of the primary mirror segments. The Webb telescope's third batch of flight mirrors now reside in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The latest arrivals included the seventh, eighth and ninth primary mirror segments.

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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Three more primary mirror segments arrive at NASA Goddard

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:50 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Three primary Webb telescope mirror segments were transported by trailer truck to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where they will reside in a giant cleanroom. Each mirror segment is shipped in its own container, and because they arrived during a rainy day, the container was covered with plastic sheeting. A forklift was used to remove the mirrors from the truck.

Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

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Three more primary mirror segments arrive at NASA Goddard

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:47 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Three primary Webb telescope mirror segments were transported by trailer truck to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where they will reside in a giant cleanroom. Each mirror segment is shipped in its own container, and because they arrived during a rainy day, the container was covered with plastic sheeting. Mechanical Integration Engineer Adam Carpenter (black jacket next to mirror) supervises the arrival of the three mirror canisters.

Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

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Three more primary mirror segments arrive at NASA Goddard

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:57 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Three primary Webb telescope mirror segments sit in shipping cannisters and await opening. A mechanical integration engineer and technicians vent and prepare the mirror canisters for inspection. The mirrors have arrived at their new home at NASA, where they will be residing at the giant cleanroom at Goddard for a while as technicians check them out. Previously on Sept. 17, 2012, two other primary mirror segments arrived at Goddard and are currently being stored in the center's giant clean room.

Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

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NASA Testing the Webb Telescope's MIRI Thermal Shield

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:31:49 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

NASA engineer Acey Herrera recently checked out copper test wires inside the thermal shield of the Mid-Infrared Instrument, known as MIRI, that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The shield is designed to protect the vital MIRI instrument from excess heat. At the time of the photo, the thermal shield was about to go through rigorous environmental testing to ensure it can perform properly in the extreme cold temperatures that it will encounter in space.

Herrera is working in a thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the MIRI shield lead, Herrera along with a thermal engineer and cryo-engineer verify that the shield is ready for testing.

On the Webb telescope, the pioneering camera and spectrometer that comprise the MIRI instrument sit inside the Integrated Science Instrument Module flight structure, that holds Webb's four instruments and their electronic systems during launch and operations.

Webb is designed to obtain images and spectra in infrared light that is invisible to the human eye. As a consequence, the Webb telescope and ISIM must be cooled to a very low temperature (-383 F or -230 C) in order to avoid being blinded by their own infrared emission. The MIRI operates over longer infrared wavelengths than the other Webb instruments and, as a result, must be made approximately 35 degrees colder than the rest of the ISIM. The MIRI’s thermal shield is critical to achieving this lower temperature for the MIRI.

Herrera said the copper wires he's looking at are located inside the silver box, are important for regulating the temperature of a mock-up of the MIRI instrument enclosed by the shield.

"The wire harness or black coils, half hidden from view at the front, is part of ground support equipment to a heat flow meter that helps regulate and monitor cooling of our test payload," Herrera said. In the left of the photo are lines that will be filled with liquid helium that will cool the chamber.

Surrounding the shield are tangles of cables that provide power to heaters and lead to temperature sensors that will help control and assess how the shield intercepts heat. Parts of the MIRI thermal shield are covered with aluminized thermal blanketing material to keep them cooler.

Inside the thermal vacuum chamber, all of this hardware was tested in an environment that mimics the strong vacuum and cold temperatures that Webb will experience in space. After Herrera and the others finished setting things up in the test chamber, Goddard technicians sealed it up, evacuated all the air and lowered the temperature of the equipment to 18 to 23 kelvins (-427 F or -255 C).

"The heaters here regulate the temperature of this huge, black painted test plate," said Herrera. "The copper wires in the center lead to a mockup meant to represent the volume of the MIRI instrument which will be enclosed in the MIRI shield."

The two black cylindrical parts at the front are protective pads covering two of six composite struts that will attach to ISIM; the pads will be removed before flight.

"These struts are designed to limit the conducted heat flow into the shield from ISIM," said Mark Voyton, MIRI instrument manager at NASA Goddard. "Underneath the shield is a black rectangular piece, part of the thermal shroud that mimics the MIRI shield's environment."

Engineers then used a Q-meter, a device designed to maintain temperature and measure the heat flow, to monitor the instrument. The test took three weeks to complete.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built and will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed, and see unexplored planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/news/miri-test.html

Text Credit: Laura Betz
Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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NASA Testing the Webb Telescope's MIRI Thermal Shield

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Thu, 09 May 2013 10:27:23 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

The Mid-Infrared Instrument, known as MIRI, will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The MIRI has a heat shield that is designed to protect the vital instrument from excess heat. At the time of the photo, the thermal shield was about to go through rigorous environmental testing to ensure it can perform properly in the extreme cold temperatures that it will encounter in space. This shot shows the Helium Shroud being lowered onto the shield for a test in one of NASA Goddard's vacuum chambers. The Helium Shroud is nicknamed the "Doghouse."

On the Webb telescope, the pioneering camera and spectrometer that comprise the MIRI instrument sit inside the Integrated Science Instrument Module flight structure, that holds Webb's four instruments and their electronic systems during launch and operations.

Webb is designed to obtain images and spectra in infrared light that is invisible to the human eye. As a consequence, the Webb telescope and ISIM must be cooled to a very low temperature (-383 F or -230 C) in order to avoid being blinded by their own infrared emission. The MIRI operates over longer infrared wavelengths than the other Webb instruments and, as a result, must be made approximately 35 degrees colder than the rest of the ISIM. The MIRI’s thermal shield is critical to achieving this lower temperature for the MIRI.

Surrounding the shield are tangles of cables that provide power to heaters and lead to temperature sensors that will help control and assess how the shield intercepts heat. Parts of the MIRI thermal shield are covered with aluminized thermal blanketing material to keep them cooler.

Inside the thermal vacuum chamber, all of this hardware was tested in an environment that mimics the strong vacuum and cold temperatures that Webb will experience in space. After things were set up in the test chamber, Goddard technicians sealed it up, evacuated all the air and lowered the temperature of the equipment to 18 to 23 kelvins (-427 F or -255 C).

The two black cylindrical parts at the front are protective pads covering two of six composite struts that will attach to ISIM; the pads will be removed before flight.

"These struts are designed to limit the conducted heat flow into the shield from ISIM," said Mark Voyton, MIRI instrument manager at NASA Goddard. "Underneath the shield is a black rectangular piece, part of the thermal shroud that mimics the MIRI shield's environment."

Engineers then used a Q-meter, a device designed to maintain temperature and measure the heat flow, to monitor the instrument. The test took three weeks to complete.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built and will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed, and see unexplored planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Read more about the MIRI heat shield tests: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/news/miri-test.html

Text Credit: Laura Betz
Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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NASA Testing the Webb Telescope's MIRI Thermal Shield

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:32:22 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Key Science Instrument Installed into Webb Structure

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:22:21 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Key Science Instrument Installed into Webb Structure

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:22:28 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Engineers worked meticulously to implant the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module, in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

Engineers Tom Huber (behind MIRI) and Mick Wilks (inside black ISIM Structure) check that MIRI is integrated precisely. The engineers have to make sure that MIRI, the only instrument on the Webb telescope that 'sees' mid-infrared light, is precisely positioned so that it and the other instruments can glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before. Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Text Credit: NASA/Laura Betz

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Key Science Instrument Installed into Webb Structure

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:22:25 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Engineers worked meticulously to implant the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module, in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

Engineers are checking to make sure that MIRI is precisely positioned with the ISIM as it slides into position. They have to make sure it's installed exactly where it needs to be within the width of a thin human hair. Visible is MIRI's pickoff mirror, which is the protrusion on the right side of the instrument that looks like a periscope on its side. This is where MIRI grabs light coming from the telescope optics. Also visible is the silver-colored base of MIRI's cryocooled shield, already installed on the ISIM structure and with a hole in it for MIRI's pickoff mirror. MIRI itself has special silver-colored blanketing around it as insulation to keep it at its proper cryogenic temperature during operation. Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Text Credit: NASA/Laura Betz

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Key Science Instrument Installed into Webb Structure

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:22:34 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Engineers worked meticulously to implant the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module, in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

A technician is installing the bolts that will hold the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, to the composite Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) structure, or the black frame. The MIRI is attached to a balance beam, called the Horizontal Integration Tool (HIT), hanging from a precision overhead crane. That's the same tool that Hubble engineers used to prepare hardware for its servicing missions. Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Text Credit: NASA/Laura Betz

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JWST Skypes with 5th Grade Classroom

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:23:32 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Skype interview about the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA Goddard with a fifth grade class at Farmington River Regional Elementary School in Otis, Massachusetts. Here, Rick Obenschain welcomes the students and elected officials (Gov. Deval Patrick, Reps. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Jim McGovern (D-MA)) to Goddard. Dr. Amber Straughn then talked about Webb's science goals and compared/contrasted the mission with Hubble.

Afterwards, Delaney Bookhardt spoke with the fifth graders from NASA Goddard's cleanroom about Webb hardware.

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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JWST Skypes with 5th Grade Classroom

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:23:30 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

JWST Skypes with 5th Grade Classroom

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:23:31 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

The James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam Instrument

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:02 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) for JWST is shown on its rotation dolly after the two mirror-image modules were bolted together to form the complete instrument.

Credit: Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center

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Dr. Amber Straughn and Katie Linendoll at SXSW

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:54:02 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Dr. Amber Straughn and Katie Linendoll from SpikeTV by the James Webb Space Telescope display at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, TX, March 8-10. Katie interviewed Amber about Webb, starting at 3:23 in this video: www.spike.com/full-episodes/lseuub/all-access-weekly-sxsw...

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Congressman Lamar Smith visits JWST @ SXSW

nobody@flickr.com (NASA Webb Telescope) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:32:25 -0700

NASA Webb Telescope posted a photo:

Congressman Lamar Smith stopped by the James Webb Space Telescope full-scale model and NASA Experience Tent to learn about the mission.

Here he talks to Albert Conti from the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Credit: Chris Gunn

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