Completion of the JWST Spacecraft/Sunshield and Telescope/Instrument Elements
Abstract
The James Webb Space Telescope is a large-aperture (6.5m diameter) segmented-telescope observatory, which is being developed to perform forefront astronomical observations at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths (0.6-28 microns). The Observatory is comprised of two principal elements. The first is the Spacecraft/Sunshield Element, comprising the warm spacecraft bus (with the usual power, propulsion, command and data-handling, pointing, and communications systems) along with a large, deployable, five-layer sunshield. That sunshield enables the second major element (the Telescope/Instrument suite, known as the OTIS) to cool passively to the operating temperatures required for the near-IR instruments, with additional mechanical cooling for the mid-IR instrument. We report here on the completion of the integration and test programs for these two elements. This milestone marked the readiness of these two sub-components to be integrated to form the full-up JWST Observatory, which is described in the companion presentation by McElwain et al.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23537210K