J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov
Mary Blake
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, Calif.
310-812-6291
mary.blake@ngc.com
RELEASE: 12-129
NASA'S WEBB TELESCOPE FLIGHT BACKPLANE SECTION COMPLETED
WASHINGTON -- The center section of the backplane structure that will
fly on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has been completed, marking
an important milestone in the telescope's hardware development. The
backplane will support the telescope's beryllium mirrors,
instruments, thermal control systems and other hardware throughout
its mission.
"Completing the center section of the backplane is an important step
in completing the sophisticated telescope structure," said Lee
Feinberg, optical telescope element manager for the Webb telescope at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This
fabrication success is the result of innovative engineering dating
back to the technology demonstration phase of the program."
The center section, or primary mirror backplane support structure,
will hold Webb's 18-segment, 21-foot-diameter primary mirror nearly
motionless while the telescope peers into deep space. The center
section is the first of the three sections of the backplane to be
completed.
Measuring approximately 24 by 12 feet yet weighing only 500 pounds,
the center section of the backplane meets unprecedented thermal
stability requirements. The backplane holds the alignment of the
telescope's optics through the rigors of launch and over a wide range
of operating temperatures, which reach as cold as - 406 degrees
Fahrenheit. During science operations, the backplane precisely keeps
the 18 primary mirror segments in place, permitting the mirrors to
form a single, pristine shape needed to take sharp images.
The Northrop Grumman Corporation in Redondo Beach, Calif., and its
teammate ATK in Magna, Utah, completed construction of the center
section. Northrop Grumman is under contract to Goddard for the design
and development of Webb's sunshield, telescope and spacecraft. ATK
manufactured 1,781 composite parts of the center section using
lightweight graphite materials and advanced manufacturing techniques.
Successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope is the
world's next-generation space observatory and will be the most
powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant
objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies
ever formed and study planets around distant stars. The Webb
telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Canadian Space Agency.
For related images of the Webb telescope backplane, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-backplane.html
For a "Behind the Webb" series video about the backplane, visit:
http://webbtelescope.org/webb_telescope/behind_the_webb/11
For more information about the Webb telescope, visit:
-end-
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