NASA James Webb Telescope: NIRSpec instrument installed into the heart

In this photo, engineers install the NIRSpec instrument in the heart (or ISIM) of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWT). 

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

The last piece of the James Webb Space Telescope's heart was installed inside the world's largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.


What looked like a massive black frame covered with wires and aluminum foil, the heart or Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) now contains all four of Webb's science instruments.

Together, these instruments will help unlock the history of our universe, from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of stellar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system.

Teams of engineers recently navigated very cramped spaces with delicate materials and finished surgically implanting the last of the four instruments that will fly on the Webb telescope – the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec).

Weighing about as much as an upright piano (about 430 pounds, or 196 kilograms), the NIRSpec was suspended from a moveable counterweight called the Horizontal Integration Tool (HIT).


From below, the engineering team was tasked with painstakingly moving this vital instrument to its final position inside the large black composite frame, officially called the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

As the team maneuvered this crucial instrument through very tight, hard to reach spaces inside the Webb telescope's heart, they ensured there was no unintentional contact with the frame because the instrument's materials are very stiff but brittle.

Disturbing any of those materials could have caused major setbacks that could damage NIRSpec.

"Part of the challenge is that this instrument cannot be installed in a straight linear move. In order to avoid interference with already installed systems, the instrument will have to follow a special pattern kind of like a dance," said Maurice te Plate, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Webb system integration and test manager at Goddard.

"During the crucial phases of the installation, the room is kept very silent because whenever there is a potential issue one of the engineers must hold the process until everything is checked out so they can proceed."

Engineers needed NIRSpec's six individual feet or legs to align with six designated "saddle" points on the ISIM within the width of a little more than that of a human hair.

To hit their marks, these engineers had rehearsed these complicated movements, performing simulations and precise calculations on both sides of the ocean.

NASA MIRI Installation on Webb Telescope - Time-lapse Video

This video shows a time-lapse of the install of the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument in a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The actual installation took about four hours.

The four science instruments that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have to be surgically installed for precision and accuracy.

NASA has just released a time-lapse video showing how clean room engineers installed one of those instruments into a large component of the JWST.

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., May 28, 2012, and has undergone inspection and testing.

Recently, it was integrated into Webb's science instrument payload known as the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

The ISIM will house the Webb's four main instruments.

The time-lapse video covers a period of four hours and was filmed in the largest clean room at Goddard, where all four of the Webb telescope's instruments and mirrors currently reside.

Viewers of the video will see engineers in clean room suits installing the MIRI over time.

"Actual total time to install the MIRI was just over four hours," said Jason Hylan, lead mechanical systems, mechanical integration and test, and opto-mechanical engineer for the ISIM at Goddard.

"The MIRI had to be positioned to a tolerance of 25 microns, or one one-thousandth of an inch, which is less than the width of a human hair."

MIRI will allow scientists to study cold and distant objects in greater detail than ever before.

MIRI will observe light with wavelengths in the mid-infrared range of 5 microns to 28 microns, which are longer wavelengths than human eyes can detect and even beyond the 0.6 micron to 5 micron wavelength range of Webb's other three instruments.

MIRI's capabilities will allow it to observe older, cooler stars in very distant galaxies, unveil newly forming stars within our Milky Way, find signatures of the formation of planets around stars other than our own, and record images and spectra of planets, comets and the outermost bits of debris in our solar system.

MIRI's mid-infrared coverage will complement the near-infrared capabilities of the other instruments, including observations of the most distant objects to help determine whether or not they are among the first ones that formed in the universe.

James Webb Telescope Test the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM)

Dressed in a clean room suit, NASA photographer Desiree Stover shines a light on the Space Environment Simulator's Integration Frame inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 

Shortly after, the chamber was closed up and engineers used this frame to enclose and help cryogenic (cold) test the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

NASA James Webb Space Telescope: backplane arrives at Marshall Centre for testing

The James Webb Space Telescope's backplane element arrives at the Marshall Center. 

Credit: NASA/MSFC/Fred Deaton

A major piece of the James Webb Space Telescope, the mirror's primary backplane support, arrived Aug. 22 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for testing in the X-ray and Cryogenic Test Facility.

The backplane is the backbone of the telescope, supporting its 18 beryllium mirrors, instruments and other elements while the telescope is looking into deep space.

The Webb Telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

To prepare the telescope for the extreme temperatures of space, engineers at the facility have carefully examined the telescope's mirrors inside a vacuum chamber that simulates the hypercold of space, chilling the hardware from room temperature down to a frigid minus 414 degrees Fahrenheit.

The backplane is the latest and final piece of the telescope to undergo this extreme conditioning at the Marshall Center.

The X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at the Marshall Center (PDF) is the world's largest X-ray telescope test facility and offers a unique, cryogenic, clean-room optical test environment.

Cryogenic testing will take place in a 7,600-cubic-foot, helium-cooled vacuum chamber, chilling the Webb support structure from room temperature to simulate the frigid atmosphere of space.

While the structure changes temperature, test engineers will precisely measure its structural stability to ensure it will perform as designed in the extreme temperatures of space.

The cryogenic testing is targeted to begin in September.

"This testing of the backplane will verify limited movement of the structure when exposed to cryogenic temperatures," said Helen Cole, project manager for Webb Telescope mirror activities at the test facility.

"This is important to overall performance of the telescope."

Crews unload the James Webb Space Telescope's "backplane," which was flown aboard a Lockheed C-5 airplane to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. 

Credit: NASA/MSFC/Fred Deaton

"Ensuring the best performance for the telescope requires evaluating the hardware at temperatures just as cold as in the environs of space," said Jeff Kegley, the test facility's manager.

 "This is the last in a series of Webb Telescope tests our facility has been performing since 2008; it's great to have the hardware here."

A joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb Telescope will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

ATK built the backplane structure at its facility in Magna, Utah, under a contract with prime contractor Northrop Grumman.

NASA completes first part of Webb Telescope's MIRI Instrument

Much like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope.

They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. 

That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before. 

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Much like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope.



They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of galaxies and see deeper into the universe than ever before.

It's high-stakes surgery that has taken years of preparation. This science instrument must fit precisely into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module (the black frame on the right to which they install the MIRI), so that it is installed exactly where it needs to be within the width of a thin human hair.



This intricate process involves a tremendous amount of work from the engineering team to make sure the instrument is settled and installed just right.

The MIRI itself weighs 181 pounds (82 kg) and is being held by a crane (on the left of the photo), which is being maneuvered by the engineer at the base of the ladder.

Each engineer has a role in the process that must be done as delicately as possible so as not to disturb anything, said Jason Hylan, the engineer responsible for the operation from start to finish.

Disturbing MIRI would cost the mission the critical science that will help shape our knowledge of the universe, and push the boundaries of scientific discoveries.

For that reason, precise engineering is key and that can put some of the engineers in awkward positions, literally.

"Because we are trying to put so much stuff into such a small space, we always run into problems related to access," Hylan said. "This is somewhat akin to working on a car under the hood – some things are easy to get to because they are on the outside of where you are working."

"Other parts are buried and are very difficult to get to. Much of what we have to integrate is on the 'inside' and so access is very difficult. "

"During the operation, we need to access multiple things at the same time and one person may only be able to access one area, so we need multiple people all around doing the same thing at the same time. It is a very coordinated operation."

Hylan said that, like watching the new World Trade Center being built in New York right now, the process is tedious, but the end result is something significant that will leave its mark on a generation.

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 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.

NASA James Webb Telescope: Super-Speed Look at Progress

A full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope was built by the prime contractor, Northrop Grumman, to provide a better understanding of the size, scale and complexity of the observatory. 

The model is constructed mainly of aluminum and steel, weighs 12,000 lb., and is approximately 80 feet long, 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall. 

The model requires 2 trucks to ship it and assembly takes a crew of 12 approximately four days.

Credit: Bobby Bradley/NASA

NASA released a new sped-up, 32-second video that shows engineers working on some of the James Webb Space Telescope's flight components to integrate them together to ensure they will work perfectly together in space.

The "NASA Webb Clean Room at Super-speed" video was filmed in the giant clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and produced at Goddard.

Testing of the two flight instruments that have been delivered to Goddard has been ongoing in the past several months.

The video is available on a NASA website in HD at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11220

› Larger image Engineers and scientists at Goddard have begun assembling the four science instruments together. In a recently released video from NASA clean room personnel are shown installing the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) instrument into a larger structure called the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) structure.

The ISIM structure is the larger skeletal structure in the video, and the FGS is the object on the end of a balance beam being moved by a crane.

"This is the integration of the FGS/NIRISS instrument onto the ISIM structure," said Scott Lambros, Webb Instrument systems manager at Goddard.

"This is the first of the four instruments to be integrated on the structure and is a very exciting time. It clearly shows we are moving into a new phase, from development, into the integration and then testing phase."

The FGS is actually one half of a combination instrument with the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) science instrument.

The FGS will enable the telescope to accurately and precisely point at the correct, intended objects for it to observe.

"The Webb telescope fine guidance sensor which provides pointing stability, or image stabilizer control, has been installed and being readied for testing together with other instruments in the ISIM," said Ray Lundquist, ISIM systems engineer at Goddard.

The FGS is packaged together as a single unit with the NIRISS science instrument and is developed and provided by the Canadian Space Agency and its prime contractor, COM DEV.

The ISIM is the whole integrated system of instruments on the Webb. It's one of four major elements that comprise the Webb Observatory flight system.

It contains the four science instruments that will detect light from distant stars and galaxies, and planets orbiting other stars.

The ISIM itself provides electrical, computational and heat management services for the science instruments.

"The MIRI instrument will be the next to be integrated onto the structure within the next month, with the NIRCam and NIRSpec instruments to follow later this year," Lambros said.

Another video was released last year produced by the Space Science Telescope Institute of Baltimore, Md., in the "Behind the Webb" series.

That video, called "Canada's Dynamic Duo," took viewers behind the scenes where the instruments were created, and is on-line.

The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb's four instruments will reveal how the universe evolved from the big bang to the formation of our solar system. Webb is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

To download the "NASA Webb Cleanroom at Super-speed" HD video, visit: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11220

To see a related "Behind the Webb" video on FGS and NIRISS

To learn more about the ISIM.

James Webb Telescope To View Early Universe : AVIATION WEEK

Webb Telescope To View Early Universe | AVIATION WEEK

Managers of the James Webb Space Telescope are relying on innovation in a dozen key materials and assemblies—and the magic of red-shifted light—to bring scientists closer to the Big Bang than they have ever been.

Assurances that their mission plan for the giant infrared telescope will meet the program’s science objectives is allowing the construction of flight hardware in parallel with the drive toward a critical design review next year.

Its 6.5-meter (21-ft.) -dia. primary mirror will distinguish the JWST as the world’s largest orbiting observatory in any wavelength when it begins operations. It also will be the largest infrared (IR) telescope in existence. Launch is penciled in for June 2014, but pressure for more assurance-testing may delay that.

If the launch schedule holds, the telescope’s operations should overlap the final days of NASA’s most famous observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope. “The prospect of Hubble and Webb operating at the same time is very exciting,” says the JWST’s deputy senior project scientist, Jon Gardner, chief of the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Observational Cosmology Laboratory. “Their capabilities are in many ways complementary.”

So are their science teams. More than 7,000 astronomers who have been involved with Hubble over its two decades of service are expected to use Webb, says Gardner. Hubble observes in visible, ultraviolet and near-IR wavelengths (0.1 to 2.5 microns); Webb does so in near- and mid-IR (0.6 to 28 microns). Webb’s resolving power of 0.1 arc-sec. will allow it to see an object the size of a soccer ball 340 mi. away, performance similar to that of Hubble’s 2.4-meter mirror. The difference is that Webb’s IR range will allow it to see objects 10-100 times more faint than Hubble can, opening the door to the Universe’s earliest days.

The Hubble was given an important boost last year when its Widefield Camera 3’s (WFC 3) near-IR instrument was enhanced in its last space shuttle servicing visit. As a result, it has breached the 1-billion-year threshold near the Big Bang that began the Universe 13.7 billion years ago. It is now seeing objects 600-800 million years after that event. The Webb’s greater resolving power in infrared, and that wavelength’s ability to see past dust that obscures light from the Universe’s earliest days, should give astronomers images of events just 250 million years after the Universe was born.

Seeing that far back will reveal clusters of the Universe’s earliest objects as they were being formed, says JWST Senior Project Scientist John Mather, a Nobel Laureate at Goddard. Astronomer Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona expects to see disks of matter becoming planets around stars.

Observing the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems and their potential for supporting life are among Webb’s major goals. The telescope should be able to see relatively small planets—a few times the size of Earth—that Hubble cannot, says Gardner. But it also will have greater sensitivity to the atmospheres of stars closer to Earth. It even can provide close-ups of planets within the Solar System, so long as they are the duller ones like Mars, not bright Venus or Mercury, which would overpower its optics at so close a range.

The spacecraft will carry four science payloads. A Mid-IR Instrument (MIRI), from a consortium of European countries, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, uses three detector arrays that will operate as low as 4K (-452F). They are the only ones employing an active refrigerated system, but it does not rely on a liquid helium bath that would limit its longevity.