JWST – Ariane 5 ECA – Kourou ELA-3 – 25.12.2021 12:20 UTC

Автор zandr, 28.03.2018 21:09:50

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tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/both-halves-of-nasa-s-webb-telescope-successfully-communicate
ЦитироватьSept. 26, 2018

Both Halves of NASA's Webb Telescope Successfully Communicate

For the first time, the two halves of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope — the spacecraft and the telescope—were connected together using temporary ground wiring that enabled them to "speak" to each other like they will in flight.


With all flight components under one roof, technicians and engineers work to prepare the two halves of the James Webb Space Telescope for continued testing and eventual assembly in 2019.
Credits: Northrop Grumman

Although it was a significant step forward for the program, this test was an optional "risk reduction" test that took advantage of an opportunity to connect the two halves of the observatory together electrically months earlier than planned. If any issues had been found, it would have given engineers more time to fix them and without causing further delays. As a bonus, it also provided a jumpstart for the separate spacecraft and telescope test teams to begin working jointly as they will when the whole observatory is put together in one piece next year.
Спойлер
The James Webb telescope is both an exceedingly complex and rewarding undertaking for NASA and its international partners. Scientists anticipate its findings to rewrite textbooks on astronomy by providing revolutionary observations of the cosmos, while engineers and involved technicians forecast that its challenging design will enable and influence future spacecraft architecture for years to come.

Each piece of Webb has undergone rigorous testing throughout various historic and state of the art facilities across the United States. This ensures the entire observatory is prepared to survive the inherent harshness of a rocket launch to space, and years of continuous exposure to the extremes encountered on a mission nearly a million miles away fr om Earth.

In February, Webb made an important, and symbolic step forward in its path to completion when all primary flight components of the observatory came to reside under the same roof at Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles, California.  This is where all flight hardware is undergoing final assembly and testing until cleared to launch from the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou in French Guiana.

"What we did now was make electrical connections between the flight telescope and flight spacecraft to understand all the nuances of the electrical interface. Specifically in this test, the spacecraft commanded mirror motion on the telescope, and the telescope replied back with telemetry confirming it. Even though we have tested each half with a simulator of the other half during their parallel construction, there is nothing exactly like connecting the real thing to the real thing. While the sunshield was being reassembled to get back into its environmental testing, we took advantage of the time and did a flight-to-flight electrical dry run right now to reduce schedule risk later," said Mike Menzel, Webb's Mission System Engineer.  "The full complement of electrical and software tests will be run next year when the observatory is finally fully assembled for flight."


Technicians send and monitor a series of commands to the James Webb Space Telescope that are designed to mimic how it will function in space. Tests like these help to assess the overall health of the observatory, while also ensuring that two halves of the observatory that have been temporarily connected with ground harnesses are ready for final assembly next year.
Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn

The James Webb Space Telescope will be a giant leap forward in our quest to understand the universe and wh ere humans fit in the great cosmic expanse. Webb will examine every phase of cosmic history: from the first luminous glows after the big bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own solar system. Allowing for unprecedented scientific observation and discovery worldwide. Webb will broaden and enrich the discoveries achieved by the great space observatories HubbleSpitzer, and Chandra.

"This test also afforded us an early chance to ensure that the two teams, who had been working separately over the years building and testing the two separate halves of Webb respectively, were able to operate as a single observatory test team. We are enthused that the early communications and commanding risk reduction test has been successfully executed. The procedure was designed and executed by an integrated set of team members from Goddard Space Flight Center, Northrop Grumman, and Ball Aerospace," said Jeff Kirk, Test Operations Lead.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries of our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

By Thaddeus Cesari
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
[свернуть]
Last Updated: Sept. 26, 2018
Editor: Lynn Jenner

tnt22

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 28 мин. назад

Back at the APAC meeting, Eric Smith shows this updated schedule for JWST, working towards a March 2021 launch date. Schedule reserve is being used at expected rate, he said.


кукушка

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCMGV8DPd-s&t=0s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCMGV8DPd-s&t=0s

САМОЕ СОВЕРШЕННОЕ ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЕ NASA: ТЕЛЕСКОП ДЖЕЙМСА УЭББА
Небольшой ролик о текущем статусе телескопа им. Джеймса Уэбба, запуск которого многократно переносился и сейчас запланирован на март 2021 года. Оригинальное видео: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zNsc...

tnt22

ЦитироватьNASA's Webb Telescope Will Investigate Cosmic Jets Fr om Young Stars

NASA Video

Опубликовано: 14 нояб. 2018 г.

Over the span of 14 years, the Hubble Space Telescope looked at a bright, clumpy jet known as HH 34 ejected from a young star. Several bright regions in the clumps signify wh ere material is slamming into each other, heating up, and glowing.

Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Hartigan (Rice University), and G. Bacon (STScI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJT4eSRGWEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJT4eSRGWE (0:03)

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2018/nasas-webb-takes-a-carriage-ride-to-testing-chambers
ЦитироватьNov. 27, 2018

NASA's Webb Takes a Carriage Ride to Testing Chambers



NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is both large and heavy, so it requires some big equipment to move it fr om one place to another during testing.

The sunshield on the Webb telescope is 70 feet by 48 feet, or roughly the size of a tennis court. Once it and the attached spacecraft bus are combined with the telescope element, with its mirrors and science instruments, Webb will weigh almost 14,000 pounds, which is about as much as a full-size school bus.

In this photo, taken at Northrop Grumman in Los Angeles, California, engineers were lifting the flight spacecraft element or SCE (consisting of the spacecraft bus and sunshield) off of the "elephant stand" upon which it was assembled. The SCE was then placed onto the In-Plant Transporter (IPT) for a carriage ride from the big cleanroom to the acoustics facility in another building. Once those acoustic tests were completed, Webb took another carriage ride to the vibration and thermal-vacuum facility in another building. After all the testing is completed, one more carriage ride will return it to this cleanroom wh ere it will be assembled with the telescope element to form the full-up observatory that will fly in space. 

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries of our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Last Updated: Nov. 27, 2018
Editor: Lynn Jenner

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2018/honeycomb-mirrors-makes-nasa-s-webb-the-most-powerful-space-telescope
ЦитироватьDec. 7, 2018

Honeycomb Mirrors Make NASA's Webb the Most Powerful Space Telescope



NASA's James Webb Space Telescope requires a primary mirror so large that it would not fit inside any existing rockets as one single, large mirror.  Because of this, Webb is equipped with a revolutionary set of 18 hexagonal mirror segments that are able to fold to fit inside the rocket fairing. Their honeycomb like arrangement allows for Webb to have the largest possible reflective surface area to make observations, with the least amount of dead space in between each.

The overall power and effectiveness of a telescope is primarily determined by how big a mirror it has. Just as a large bucket standing out in the rain collects more water, a larger mirror can collect more light from objects in the distant cosmos. If circular mirror segments were used, there would be substantial inactive areas at the boundaries of each segment, resulting in less total mirror area and a less capable observatory.  

This efficient honeycomb pattern commonly found in beehives allows each mirror to perfectly fit together at their edges, effectively creating a singular and massively powerful unit. This arrangement also makes a roughly circular overall primary mirror shape, which is desired as it focuses light into the most compact region on the detectors, and provides the most readily analyzed images. An oval mirror, for example, would give images that are elongated in one direction.

Each gold-plated hexagon is equipped with a set of actuators, which are small devices that allow for impressively accurate fine-tuning of their position, angle, and even curvature. If adjustments need to be made, they can be precisely applied to each, without disturbing the others while in space. These actuators allow for Webb's mirrors, instruments and optics to work perfectly in unison to create supremely accurate and powerful observations. In total, Webb's mirror is nearly seven times the size of its scientific predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. With a much larger primary mirror, Webb will build upon and add to the extraordinary body of knowledge that Hubble and other space telescopes like ChandraSpitzer, and COBE have provided the world's scientific community.

While Webb's spacecraft bus and sunshield undergo continued environmental testing to ensure preparedness for the rigors of a rocket launch to space, technicians and engineers recently completed another series of live mirror preparations called hexapod tests, which are designed to ensure both Webb's hardware that control the mirrors, and software programs that guide them are functioning optimally.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries of our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

By Thaddeus Cesari​​
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Last Updated: Dec. 8, 2018
Editor: Lynn Jenner

tnt22

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 14 ч. назад

At the @stsci town hall, Ken Sembach, director of the institute, says work on JWST is continuing at both STScI and Northrop Grumman despite the ongoing government shutdown. Spacecraft just completed one phase of vibration testing at Northrop.
#AAS223

поц

В США продолжается обсуждение вопросов связанных с бюджетом НАСА
Цитировать
Вслед за обнародованием планов относительно голосования по утверждению $21.5 млрд бюджета НАСА на 2019 год, СМИ США сообщили о том, что многие законодатели стали проявлять раздражение относительно затягивания сроков создания орбитального телескопа JWST. Как отмечено в пояснении к бюджету представители Конгресса все более склоняются к мысли о том, что НАСА рассматривает получение денежных средств на этот проект как свое право и не считает своей обязанностью придерживаться заявленных сроков. Вместе с тем, хотя законопроект предусматривает $800 млн увеличение лимитных объемов ассигнований на создание телескопа, однако
законодатели уже начали использовать в своих комментариях термин "отмена проекта".

tnt22

#48
https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-completes-next-critical-launch-milestones-of-nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-spacecraft
ЦитироватьNorthrop Grumman Completes Next Critical Launch Milestones of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Spacecraft

February 08, 2019

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – Feb. 8, 2019 – NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Spacecraft Element (SCE) successfully completed acoustic and sine vibration testing at Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) in Redondo Beach.


Both halves of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are housed in Northrop Grumman's cleanroom as they undergo ongoing testing and integration efforts.
Acoustic and sine vibration testing validates the structural design and verifies the mechanical workmanship and integrity of the actual flight SCE by subjecting it to simulated rigors of the launch environment.

"Mission success remains our focus for Webb, a first of its kind space telescope," said Scott Willoughby, vice president and program manager, James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop Grumman. "Successful environmental testing of the SCE builds further confidence in its structural design integrity, built to withstand the stresses of launch."
Спойлер

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Spacecraft Element during vibration testing at Northrop's facility, in Redondo Beach, California.

The SCE was subjected to acoustic noise levels of 140.7 decibels (damage to hearing starts at 85dB while speakers at a concert can be as loud as 120dB or more), which simulated the high noise levels generated from rocket engines and turbulent air flow at high Mach speeds during launch. Vibration testing simulates the vibration and shaking Webb will experience during launch. During testing, the SCE was attached to a large electrodynamic shaker, vibrating it along three orthogonal axes. This back-and-forth or "sinusoidal" vibration was applied by starting at a low, subsonic frequency of 5 hertz (cycles per second) and "sweeping" up to a medium frequency of 100 hertz in the course of just over one minute. Ultimately, the SCE was subjected to protoflight vibration levels required to simulate a rocket launch experience. Testing on the ground assures that Webb can successfully withstand the rigors of its journey to space.

The completion of acoustic and sine vibration testing advances Webb's SCE to its final environmental test, thermal vacuum testing. Post thermal vacuum testing, Webb will return to Northrop's clean room for full deployment and integration of the Optical Telescope Element/Integrated Science Instrument Module later this year.

 The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory of the next decade. Webb will solve mysteries of our solar system, look to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and the origins of our universe. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.


NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on its way to acoustics testing at Northrop's large acoustic test facility in Redondo Beach, California.

Team members from NASA and Northrop Grumman observing NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Spacecraft Element being placed at Northrop's large acoustic test facility, in Redondo Beach, California, in preparation for acoustics testing.
[свернуть]

tnt22

ЦитироватьNASA's Webb Is Sound After Completing Critical Milestones

NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 8 февр. 2019 г.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has successfully passed another series of critical testing milestones on its march to the launch pad. In recent acoustic and sine vibration tests, technicians and engineers exposed Webb's spacecraft element to brutal dynamic mechanical environmental conditions to ensure it will endure the rigors of a rocket launch to space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo4igKDySFQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo4igKDySFQ (1:00)

tnt22

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 9 мин. назад

At a JWST town hall meeting at #SpaceSymposium, NASA program manager Bill Ochs said the spacecraft element started thermal vacuum testing less than a week ago; test slated to last 41 days.
#35SS

tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-webb-telescope-mirrors-utilize-innovative-space-shielding
ЦитироватьApril 11, 2019

NASA's Webb Telescope Mirrors Utilize Innovative Space Shielding

To observe objects in the distant cosmos, and to do science that's never been done before, NASA's James Webb Space Telescopes' scientific instruments need to be cooled down to a temperature so cold, it would freeze the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere solid.


To fit inside the Ariane 5 rocket Webb will ride to space, some of its mirrors are designed to fold, and deploy to full size once in orbit. Shown here: Northrop Grumman technician Ricardo Pantoja performs a routine inspection of NASA Webb's innovative blanketing along the connection point of its deployable primary mirror segments.
Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn

Intentionally chilling the telescope mirrors and instruments with innovative technologies and intelligent spacecraft design allows them to be far more sensitive to faint infrared light. Infrared can be described simply as heat, and if Webb's components are cool, they are far more capable at observing faint heat signatures from the distant universe.

Webb was designed with a revolutionary 5-layer tennis-court-size sunshield that blocks the primary sources of heat in order to achieve an incredibly frigid temperature of nearly minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 240 degrees Celsius). In addition to the sunshield, there are a multitude of other innovative features which enable the telescope to achieve its unmatched sensitivity for faint infrared signals. One such feature is the protective barrier behind Webb's primary mirror called "Frill." This lightweight blanketing plays an important role on the observatory as it blocks unwanted light from reaching the telescope's sensitive infrared sensors. 

"Due to its origami unfolding architecture, the Webb telescope does not have a cylindrical light baffle, like is seen with Hubble or even your home telescope which is used to block unwanted light. Instead, Webb is a first of a kind "open" telescope that relies on the sunshield to block unwanted Sun, Earth and moonlight and relies on the Frill, shown here, to block light from stars and galaxies that are behind the telescope, that would hit the secondary mirror and get down into the science instruments that are extremely sensitive," said Lee Feinberg, Optical Telescope Element Manager, James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.


Northrop Grumman blanket technician Ann Meyer, and Ball Aerospace optical engineer Larkin Carey inspect the protective barrier behind Webb's primary mirror called "Frill." This lightweight blanketing plays an important role on the observatory as it blocks undesirable light from reaching the telescope's sensitive infrared sensors.
Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries of our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

By Thaddeus Cesari
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Last Updated: April 11, 2019
Editor: Lynn Jenner

tnt22

#52
https://tass.ru/kosmos/6491717
Цитировать30 МАЯ, 19:53
На телескопе James Webb завершена проверка аппаратуры на термоустойчивость

Элементы его конструкции в специальной вакуумной камере подвергались воздействию температуры от минус 184 до плюс 104 градусов Цельсия

НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 30 мая. /ТАСС/. Проверка работы агрегатного отсека космического телескопа James Webb в различных температурных режимах завершена в испытательном центре корпорации Northrop Grumman в Редондо-Бич (штат Калифорния). Как сообщила в четверг пресс-служба корпорации, элементы конструкции телескопа в специальной вакуумной камере подвергались воздействию температуры от минус 184 градусов Цельсия до плюс 104 градусов Цельсия. Во время испытаний для охлаждения использовался жидкий азот, а для нагрева - термобатареи.

"Крупнейший в мире орбитальный телескоп должен функционировать при экстремальных температурах, - заявил вице-президент корпорации Скотт Уиллоуби. - Успешное завершение испытаний станет гарантией того, что аппаратура сможет функционировать в условиях космоса". Ранее аппаратура прошла испытания на вибростенде. Позднее в нынешнем году к агрегатному отсеку будет подстыкован астрономический и научный модули.

Орбитальный телескоп, названный в честь Джеймса Уэбба, руководителя программы "Аполлон", позволившей человеку побывать на Луне, должен заменить ориентировочно в 2021 году космическую обсерваторию Hubble. Его предполагается вывести далеко за Луну в точку Лагранжа, находящуюся на расстоянии примерно 1,6 млн км от Земли.

На James Webb будет установлено зеркало диаметром 6,5 м, составленное из 18 секций. Каждая из них имеет форму равностороннего шестиугольника и весит около 40 кг. Для их изготовления был выбран бериллий - материал, устойчивый к сверхнизким температурам. Новый телескоп предназначен для изучения древнейших во Вселенной звезд и галактик, сформировавшихся после Большого взрыва, а также поиска потенциально пригодных для жизни планет.

Чебурашка

Телескопа, телескопа... ты мну ваще видишь?


tnt22

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-james-webb-space-telescope-emerges-successfully-from-final-thermal-vacuum-test
ЦитироватьMay 30, 2019

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Emerges Successfully fr om Final Thermal Vacuum Test

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has successfully cleared another critical testing milestone, taking this ambitious observatory one step closer to its 2021 launch. The spacecraft has gone through its final thermal vacuum test meant to ensure that its hardware will function electronically in the vacuum of space, and withstand the extreme temperature variations it will encounter on its mission.

One half of the Webb observatory, known as the "spacecraft element," completed this testing at the facilities of Northrop Grumman, the mission's lead industrial partner, in Los Angeles. The other half of Webb, which consists of the telescope and science instruments, has already successfully completed its thermal vacuum testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston prior to delivery at Northrop Grumman last year.

In the most recent major environmental test, technicians and engineers locked the Webb spacecraft element inside a special thermal vacuum chamber. The testing team drained the atmosphere from the room to replicate the vacuum of space, and exposed the Webb spacecraft element to a wide range of hot and cold temperatures, spanning from minus 235 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 148 degrees Celsius) to a sweltering 215 degrees Fahrenheit (102 degrees Celsius). This variation of temperatures ensures the spacecraft will survive the extreme conditions it will actually experience in space.


Technicians and engineers needed to take special precautions when preparing, and transporting Webb's spacecraft element for entry into Northrop Grumman's environmental testing chambers.
Credits: Northrop Grumman

The spacecraft element consists of the "bus," which is the equipment that actually flies the observatory in space, plus the revolutionary five-layer tennis-court-size sunshield that will keep Webb's sensitive optics and instruments in the shade, and at their required super-cold operating temperatures. The spacecraft element is imperative to the success of Webb's scientific goals, and must be thoroughly tested and validated for flight.

With the completion of this latest thermal vacuum test, all of Webb's components have been exposed to the varied conditions that they will encounter during launch, and while in orbit a million miles away from Earth.

"The teams from Northrop Grumman and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are to be commended for a successful spacecraft thermal vacuum test, dedicating long hours to get wh ere we are now," said Jeanne Davis, program manager for the James Webb Space Telescope Program. "This incredible accomplishment paves the way for the next major milestone, which is to integrate the telescope and the spacecraft elements."

The next steps will be to join both halves of Webb to form the fully assembled observatory and complete a final round of deployments, testing and evaluation prior to launch. A full deployment of the spacecraft element will verify that Webb is ready to proceed to the launch site.


Webb's spacecraft being lifted into Northrop Grumman's thermal vacuum chamber for environmental testing to ensure that its hardware will function in the vacuum of space.
Credits: Northrop Grumman

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

By Thaddeus Cesari
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center


Last Updated: May 30, 2019
Editor: Lynn Jenner

tnt22

https://ria.ru/20190531/1555161498.html
ЦитироватьИнженеры НАСА завершили проверку самого дорогого телескопа мира
19:05

МОСКВА, 31 мая – РИА Новости. Обе половины орбитальной обсерватории "Джеймс Уэбб" прошли все предполетные тесты и готовы к окончательной сборке, тестированию и отправке на орбиту, сообщает Центр космических полетов НАСА имени Годдарда.
Цитировать"Команды инженеров из "Нортроп-Грумман" и Центра космических полетов имени Годдарда проделали блестящую работу, завершив тепловые вакуумные испытания. Это открыло дорогу для следующего большого шага в нашей работе – интеграции телескопа и сервисного модуля", — заявила Джианн Дэвис (Jeanne Davis), руководитель проекта JWST в НАСА.
Мощнейший орбитальный телескоп "Джеймс Уэбб" (James Webb Space Telescope, JWST) должен стать официальной заменой для обсерватории "Хаббл", проработавшей на орбите уже почти три десятка лет.
Спойлер
Изначально новый аппарат планировалось запустить в 2014 году, но чрезмерно высокие затраты на его постройку и отставание от графика вынудили НАСА перенести предполагаемую дату старта миссии сначала на сентябрь 2015 года, потом – на октябрь 2018 года, и затем — на июль 2019 года. Конгресс США неоднократно пытался "закрыть" проект из-за задержек в его сборке и выход за рамки бюджета.

Проблемы с графиком усугубились в декабре 2016 года, когда инженеры НАСА заявили о возможном появлении больших проблем при тестировании уникального солнечного экрана "Джеймса Уэбба". Акселерометры, установленные на корпусе телескопа, зафиксировали странные аномалии во время вибрационных тестов.

Это заставило НАСА провести детальную проверку телескопа, так как подобное поведение датчиков могли указывать на присутствие трещин в инструментах или в корпусе "Джеймса Уэбба".

Эти проблемы и другие неполадки в работе солнечного экрана телескопа "съели" все резервные запасы времени и вынудили сдвинуть запуск телескопа на конец марта 2021 года, несмотря на то, что научная часть обсерватории прошла все тесты еще в прошлом году.

Ликвидация этих проблем потребовала достаточно много времени, из-за чего повторные вибрационные и акустические тесты солнечного экрана и всей сервисной половины "Джеймса Уэбба", отвечающей за выработку электроэнергии и поддержание телескопа на орбите, стартовали только в начале этого года.

Обсерватория успешно прошла эти проверки в феврале, после чего инженеры НАСА начали тепловые вакуммные испытания. В ходе этих тестов ученые помещают космический аппарат в особую вакуумную камеру, где поддерживаются такие же условия, в которых "Джеймс Уэбб" или любой другой космический аппарат будут работать на орбите.
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Сервисная часть обсерватории, как отметили в НАСА, успешно пережила многократный нагрев до температуры в 102 градуса Цельсия и резкие охлаждения до минус 148 градусов Цельсия, не испытывая сбоев в работе электроники или неполадок в двигателях, возникавших в ходе прошлых тестов.

После того, как обе половины телескопа будут собраны, "Джеймс Уэбб" будет упакован в специальную капсулу для запуска и отправлен на космодром Куру во Французской Гвиане. Оттуда он будет выведен в космос на борту сверхтяжелой ракеты Ariane 5 и, если запуск пройдет удачно, станет самым тяжелым и дорогостоящим орбитальным телескопом за всю историю человечества.


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ЦитироватьNASA's Webb Telescope Shines with American Ingenuity

 NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 18 июл. 2019 г.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the most complex spacecraft ever made. Over 100 different companies, and multiple NASA facilities throughout the United States have contributed to its development. Each in some way have helped to build and provide parts for the telescope, or assemble them, and many have built testing and clean room facilities specifically for the spacecraft. Others helped provide equipment, personnel, and supplies for testing the telescope and its various parts. As a result of this collective group effort, scientist will be able to use the world's most advance telescope to break new grounds in science, and both discover and observe new parts of space that have never been seen before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQCsM6x6REhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQCsM6x6RE (0:59)

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https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/features/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-secondary-mirror-deploys-for-the-first-time-using-the-spacecraft-flight-electronics
ЦитироватьNASA's James Webb Space Telescope Secondary Mirror Deploys for the First Time Using the Spacecraft Flight Electronics

By Lindsay McLaurin | August 06, 2019

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Secondary Mirror Support Structure (SMSS) was deployed for the first time using the telescope's flight electronics at Northrop Grumman's clean room in Redondo Beach, California. The milestone marks another major interaction of the Observatory (Optical Telescope and Integrated Science Instrument [OTIS] module and the Spacecraft Element [SCE]), working together as they will in orbit.

"Moving into a phase where we can begin using Webb's actual flight electronics in the spacecraft to operate all elements in the remainder of the observatory is remarkable," said Scott Willoughby, vice president and program manager, James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop Grumman. "The deployment of the SMSS marks a successful milestone for Webb, as we move towards full integration of OTIS to the SCE later this year."


Image courtesy of NASA and C. Godfrey STScI


Engineers Perry Knollenberg (left) and Paul Reynolds (right) inspecting Webb's secondary mirror's outboard hinge at Northrop Grumman's clean room in Redondo Beach, California.

The SMSS is the tripod connecting Webb's round 0.74 meter diameter secondary mirror to the Optical Telescope Element (OTE). The OTE's large mirror, known as the primary mirror, is comprised of 18 hexagonal segments making up the 6.5 meter diameter mirror. The OTIS acts as the eye of the observatory with the OTE acting as the lens, gathering light coming fr om space and providing it to the science instruments, which act as the retina. Webb's secondary mirror is the second surface that light from the cosmos hits on its path into the telescope. The secondary mirror is supported by three struts that extend out from the large primary mirror. The struts are hollow tubes made of carbon fiber composite that is about 40-thousandths of an inch (about 1 millimeter) thick, built to withstand the extreme temperatures of space.

Every interaction with Webb is complex, especially building and testing it in a 1-G environment wh ere gravity affects everything. Webb is designed to work in a zero-G environment, therefore testing deployments on the ground requires offsetting and negating the effect of gravity to simulate on orbit conditions.

The deployment was the first time Webb's secondary mirror's deployment and latching motors were driven by the electronics in the spacecraft bus, which used the flight software reading the flight telemetry in the exact same way that it will be done in flight. In this joint effort, electrical and mechanical engineering teams across NASA and Northrop Grumman worked together to successfully execute this milestone.  This was also the last time the SMSS will be deployed on the ground—the next time will be after launch in space.


A view of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror's reflected image off the secondary mirror, whose image is reflected off the primary mirror, like a hall of mirrors.


A view of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's Primary Mirror and deployed Secondary Mirror Secondary Mirror Support Structure at Northrop Grumman's clean room.

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ЦитироватьThe Webb Telescope's Unfolding Secondary Mirror

 NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 7 авг. 2019 г.

In order to do groundbreaking science, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope must first unpack itself in deep space. In its full configuration, Webb would be too big too fit in any available rocket. So, engineers designed the observatory to fold up to a much smaller size during transport. After Webb Launches, the observatory's delicate parts will unfold and arrange themselves through a series of carefully choreographed steps.

When deployed, the secondary mirror will sit out in front of Webb's 18 primary mirrors, collect their light and focus it into a beam. That beam is then sent down into the tertiary and fine steering mirrors, and finally to Webb's four scientific instruments.

This video shows the flurry of engineers and technicians examining the hinges and movement of the secondary mirror as it deploys. This is one of a final series of tests the Webb Telescope must perform to prove that it is ready to operate in space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxQ3QI0s6schttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxQ3QI0s6sc (0:56)