(March 31st, 2016) The recently installed instruments (Near Infrared Spectrograph NIRSpec and Mid-Infrared Instrument MIRI) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have passed an extensive series of environmental tests for the telescope’s launch in 2018, according to Satnews.com.
NASA’s JWST is a large, space-based observatory expected to compliment and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Telescope, optimized for infrared wavelengths, according the official NASA website.
Satnews reported, “The environmental test program began with mechanical tests (vibration and acoustic testing), followed by electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing, and the final Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) cryogenic vacuum test was performed from October 2015 through February 2016,” in a 109-day non-stop test that was completed successfully.
In addition, Satnews said, the “Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science (OTIS) environmental test program will start in mid-2016. Beginning with functional testing, the mechanical test program (vibration and acoustic testing) will take place at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC). On completion of the mechanical test programme in 2016, OTIS will be shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Flight Centre (JSC) in Houston, where the last cryogenic vacuum test will be performed to demonstrate the optical end-to-end performance of the telescope and instruments together.”
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