First Mirror Installed on NASA
First Mirror Installed on NASA Webb Telescope, Final Assembly Phase Starts
canada goose clearance sale The James Webb Space Telescope team successfully installed the first flight mirror onto the telescope structure at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn canada goose clearance sale
Story/photos updatedAfter years Canada Goose online of construction, the first of 18 primary flight mirrors has been installed onto NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, signifying the start of the final assembly phase for the mammoth observatory that will eventually become the most powerful telescope ever sent to space.
Canada Goose online The milestone first mirror installation was achieved this week just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as the engineering team, working inside the massive clean room at NASA Goddard, used a robotic arm to precisely canada goose coats on sale lift and lower the gold coated mirror into place on canada goose black friday sale the buy canada goose jacket observatory’s critical mirror holding backplane assembly. Canada Goose online
canada goose uk black friday Each of the 18 hexagonal shaped primary mirror segments measures just over 4.2 feet (1.3 meters) across and weighs approximately 88 pounds (40 kilograms). In space, the individual mirrors will canada goose store unfold into several sections and work together as one large mirror, unprecedented in size and light gathering capability. canada goose uk black friday
“This fall we will start installing every mirror,” said Sandra Irish, JWST Canada Goose Outlet lead structural engineer during a recent interview with Universe Today at the NASA Goddard clean room facility.
Inside a massive clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope Team prepared for the first flight mirror’s installation onto cheap Canada Goose the telescope structure. Credits: NASA/Chris Canada Goose Jackets GunnTo complete the entire mirror installation process onto the backplane assembly canada goose outlet will take several months and continue into early 2016. The flight structure and backplane assembly serve as the Canada Goose Parka $8.6 Billion Webb telescopes backbone.
“Then next April 2016 we will install the ISIM science module inside the backplane structure,” Irish elaborated.
“The ISIM mounts canada goose clearance sale all four of the telescopes science instruments. So the mirrors go on first, then the ISIM gets installed and then it will really be the telescope structure.” ISIM carries some 7,500 pounds (2400 kg) of telescope optics and instruments.
cheap canada goose uk An engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center worked to install the first flight mirror onto the telescope structure at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Credits: NASA/Chris GunnThe purpose of JWST’s backplane assembly is to hold the telescopes 18 segment, 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) diameter primary mirror nearly motionless while floating in the utterly frigid space environment, thereby enabling http://www.canadagoosejacketoutlett.com the observatory to peer out into deep space for precise science gathering measurements never before possible. cheap canada goose uk
Canada Goose Coats On Sale “After a tremendous amount of work by an incredibly dedicated team across the country, it is very exciting to start the primary mirror segment installation process” said Lee Feinberg, James Webb Space Telescope optical telescope element manager at Goddard, in a statement. Canada Goose Coats On Sale
Canada Goose Online “This starts the final assembly phase of the telescope.” Canada Goose Online
View showing actual flight structure of mirror backplane unit for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that holds 18 segment primary mirror array and secondary mirror mount at front, in stowed for launch configuration. JWST is being assembled here by technicians inside the world’s largest cleanroom at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
canada goose factory sale Webb is designed to look at the first light of the Universe and will be able to peer back in time to when the first stars and first galaxies were forming. canada goose factory sale
uk canada goose “The James Webb Space Telescope will be the premier astronomical observatory of the next decade,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. uk canada goose
canada goose store “This first mirror installation milestone symbolizes all the new and specialized technology that was developed to enable the observatory to study the first stars and galaxies, examine the formation stellar systems and planetary formation, provide answers to the evolution of our own solar system, and make the next big steps in the search for life beyond Earth on exoplanets.” canada goose store
The actual flight mirror backplane is comprised of canada goose deals three segments the main central segment and a pair of Canada Goose sale outer wing like parts holding three mirrors each. They will be unfolded from the stowed for launch configuration to the “deployed” configuration to carry out the mirror installation. Then be folded back over into launch configuration for eventual placement inside the payload fairing of the Ariane V ECA booster rocket.
uk canada goose outlet The telescope will launch from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana in 2018. uk canada goose outlet
The telescopes primary and secondary flight mirrors had previously arrived at Goddard and the teams had practiced the installation using flight spares and engineering units.
canada goose coats on sale Engineers practiced mirror installation techniques and processing using a spare primary mirror on JWST’s “Pathfinder” backplane and secondary mirror tripod assembly in 2014 inside the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Secondary mirror at top. While operating at extraordinarily cold temperatures between 406 and 343 degrees Fahrenheit the backplane must not move more than 38 nanometers, approximately 1/1,000 the diameter of a human hair. canada goose coats on sale
To account for the tiniest of errors and enhance science, each of the primary mirrors is equipped with actuators for minute adjustments.
“There have many significant achievements for Webb over the past year, but the installation of the first flight mirror is special,” said Bill Ochs, James Webb Space canada goose Telescope project manager. “This installation not only represents another step towards the magnificent discoveries to come from Webb, but also the culmination of many years of effort by an outstanding dedicated team of engineers and scientists.”
cheap Canada Goose So its 1 down and 17 mirrors to go. cheap Canada Goose
canada goose canadian goose jacket Close up view of spare primary mirrors installed on JWST’s “Pathfinder” backplane structure during practice session in 2014 inside the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight canada goose coats Center, Greenbelt, Md. canada goose
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Watch for more on JWST construction and mirror installation.
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