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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
06/14/2012 | Press release
First Flight Instrument Delivered for James Webb Space Telescope
distributed by noodls on 06/14/2012 15:28
The MIRI Cleanroom Huddle: Although it appears that
these six contamination control engineers are in a huddle
around the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared
Instrument (or MIRI), they are conducting a receiving
inspection. Engineers from the European Space Agency are
wearing blue hoods, and engineers from NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center are wearing the white hoods. As part of
the standard receiving inspection, they are looking for the
tiniest traces of dust or contamination which would have to
be remedied because cleanliness is a priority for such a
sensitive instrument; MIRI passed its inspection review.
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
› Larger image
June 14, 2012
GREENBELT, Md. -- The first of four instruments to fly
aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has
been delivered to NASA. The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)
will allow scientists to study cold and distant objects in
greater detail than ever before.
MIRI arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md. on May 29. It has been undergoing inspection
before being integrated into Webb's science instrument
payload known as the Integrated Science Instrument Module
(ISIM).
Assembled at and shipped from the Science and Technology
Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in
the United Kingdom, MIRI was developed by a consortium of
10 European institutions and NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and delivered by the
European Space Agency.
George Rieke, MIRI science team lead at the University of
Arizona, Tucson, noted, "MIRI is the first Webb
instrument to be delivered, the result of teamwork in the
U.S. and internationally."
MIRI will observe light with wavelengths in the
mid-infrared range of 5 microns to 28 microns, which is a
longer wavelength than human eyes can detect. It is the
only instrument of the four with this particular ability to
observe the physical processes occurring in the cosmos.
"MIRI will enable Webb to distinguish the oldest
galaxies from more evolved objects that have undergone
several cycles of star birth and death," said Matt
Greenhouse, ISIM project scientist at Goddard. "MIRI
also will provide a unique window into the birth places of
stars which are typically enshrouded by dust that shorter
wavelength light cannot penetrate."
MIRI's sensitive detectors will allow it to observe
light, cool stars in very distant galaxies; unveil newly
forming stars within our Milky Way; find signatures of the
formation of planets around stars other than our own; and
take imagery and spectroscopy of planets, comets and the
outermost bits of debris in our solar system. MIRI's
images will enable scientists to study an object's
shape and structure.
"MIRI will help us understand what's out there at
the edge of what we can see," said Mike Ressler, the
instrument's project scientist at JPL. "The
shorter-wavelength instruments will discover the glow of
the farthest known objects, but we need MIRI to help
identify what they are -- supermassive black holes, newborn
galaxies or something we've never seen
before."
The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb is the
successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb's
four instruments will reveal how the universe evolved from
the Big Bang to the formation of our solar system. Webb is
a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the
Canadian Space Agency.
To view two "Behind the Webb" videos about MIRI,
visit:
http://go.nasa.gov/LQUFC9
and http://go.nasa.gov/LQUPta
For more information about the mid- and near-infrared
spectrum, visit:
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/faq.html#ir
For more information about NASA's James Webb Space
Telescope, visit: www.jwst.nasa.gov
Priscilla Vega 818-354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov
Rob Gutro 301-286-4044
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
2012-174
