James Webb space telescope's actual 'spine' now being built
February 9, 2009
A "pathfinder" backplane is currently in production. It's used as a test to dry-run many of the critical, high-risk activities that are associated with the assembly, integration and test of the flight hardware. This photo emphasizes the assembly tools (silver-colored) which keep all the backplane (black tubes) in place as they are bonded. Credit: Northrop Grumman
Scientists and engineers who have been working on the James Webb Space Telescope mission for years are getting very excited, because some of the actual pieces that will fly aboard the Webb telescope are now being built. One of the pieces, called the Backplane, is like a "spine" to the telescope. The Backplane is now being assembled by Alliant Techsystems at its Magna, Utah facility.
The Webb telescope stands as big as a two-story house, and the Backplane is a core part of the design as it will support the telescope's 21-foot diameter (6.5 meter) primary mirror. Not only will the Backplane be carrying a large mirror, but it will be supporting a lot of weight. It will be carrying 7,500 lbs (2400 kg) of telescope optics and instruments during space launch to the telescope's operational position 990,000 miles (1,584,000 km) from Earth.
"The Webb telescope's ultimate ability to discover the first stars and galaxies is critically dependent on the mirror backplane performing to fantastically demanding standards," said Eric Smith, Webb Telescope program scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington.
Being the "spine" of the mirror requires it to essentially be motionless while the mirrors move to see far into deep space. Imagine holding the handle of a magnifying glass to see a tiny object. If your hand shakes a lot, it will be hard to focus on the object. So, just as you have to hold the magnifying glass handle steady with your hand, the Webb backplane has to hold the telescope mirrors steady, to allow them to focus.
This structure is also designed to provide unprecedented thermal stability performance at temperatures colder than -400°F (-240°C). That means it is engineered to move less than 32 nanometers, which is 1/10,000 the diameter of a human hair in the extreme cold of space.
Alliant Techsystems' (ATK's) Backplane represents an improvement in dimensional stability performance of 1000-times, a threefold increase in size, and operational capability at temperatures far colder than any prior space telescope.
The Backplane is made with advanced graphite composite materials mated to titanium and invar fittings and interfaces. Invar is a nickel steel alloy notable for its uniquely low changes due to thermal expansion. It will be completed and delivered to Northrop Grumman in late 2010 for integration into the Webb telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to launch in 2013. By observing in infrared light, it will be able to see faint and very distant objects, explore distant galaxies, formation of star systems, and nearby planets and stars. Webb will be able to see "back in time" to the first light after the Big Bang. The information it will send back to Earth will give scientists clues about the formation of the universe and the evolution of our own solar system.
Source: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
-
Space Image: Large X-class flare erupts on the Sun
Feb 08, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Astronomy team discovers nearby dwarf galaxy
14 hours ago |
4.3 / 5 (4) |
5
-
Looking for work? There may be an app for that
Feb 07, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
When worlds collide: Researchers harness supercomputers to understand solar storm, magnetosphere
Feb 07, 2012 |
3 / 5 (1) |
6
-
ESO team succeeds in linking telescopes at Paranal Observatory into giant VLT
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (16) |
2
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Scale of the Universe
3 hours ago
-
Titan's lack of impact craters
Feb 09, 2012
-
Real pictures of black hole eating a star?
Feb 08, 2012
-
Hypothetical way to travel faster than light, but not technically exceed lightspeed
Feb 06, 2012
-
How do scientists monitor the Sun's activity?
Feb 05, 2012
-
Search patterns in observational studies
Feb 05, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Astronomy
More news stories
NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine
Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar
Tropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. Residents of east-central Madagascar should prepare for this cyclone to make landfall ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago
(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...
Could Venus be shifting gear?
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESAs Venus Express spacecraft has discovered that our cloud-covered neighbour spins a little slower than previously measured. Peering through the dense atmosphere in the infrared, the ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
10 hours ago |
5 / 5 (7) |
7
|
Mars Science Laboratory computer issue resolved
(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
11 hours ago |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
3
|
Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets
Users of Google smartphone wallets were being warned on Friday that there is a way to crack pass codes intended to thwart thieves from going on illicit shopping sprees.
Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)
The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was inaccessible on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.
Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins
Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. ...
Putting the squeeze on planets outside our solar system
(PhysOrg.com) -- Using high-powered lasers, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and collaborators discovered that molten magnesium silicate undergoes a phase change in the liquid state, abruptly ...
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission
Error-correcting codes are one of the triumphs of the digital age. Theyre a way of encoding information so that it can be transmitted across a communication channel such as an optical fiber o ...