Update: JWST Still Aligning Instruments

Apr 6, 2022 | Daily Space, JWST

IMAGE: This rendering of the James Webb Space Telescope is current to 2015. CREDIT: Northrop Grumman

Some good news about JWST

After aligning the eighteen segments of the primary mirror to the secondary mirror and one instrument, the next step was to align more instruments. That step has now been completed, according to a NASA press release on April 1. The telescope is now aligned to the Near-Infrared Camera, Near-Infrared Slitless Spectrograph, Near-Infrared Spectrometer, and Fine Guidance Sensor. All that remains is the Mid-Infrared Instrument, which will be aligned once it has cooled down to operating temperatures. 

Teams planned to do one more fine adjustment of the secondary mirror but decided it was unnecessary because the coarse adjustment was so good. According to  Chanda Walker, wavefront sensing and control scientist at Ball AerospaceThis accomplishment was due to many years of planning and great teamwork among the wavefront sensing team.

More Information

Webb Completes First Multi-Instrument Alignment (NASA)

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