Webb’s coldest instrument reaches operating temperature
The engineering team announced today that the mid-infrared instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope has now cooled to its operating temperature of -447 degrees Fahrenheit, less than 7 kelvin degrees above absolute zero.
On April 7, Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) – a joint development by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) – reached its final operating temperature below 7 kelvins (minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 266 degrees Celsius).
Along with Webb’s three other instruments, MIRI initially cooled off in the shade of Webb’s tennis-court-size sunshield, dropping to about 90 kelvins (minus 298 F, or minus 183 C). But dropping to less than 7 kelvins required an electrically powered cryocooler. Last week, the team passed a particularly challenging milestone called the “pinch point,” when the instrument goes from 15 kelvins (minus 433 F, or minus 258 C) to 6.4 kelvins (minus 448 F, or minus 267 C).
Before science operations can begin the instruments still need further calibration and testing. Expect the first infrared images sometime in the next month or so.
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The engineering team announced today that the mid-infrared instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope has now cooled to its operating temperature of -447 degrees Fahrenheit, less than 7 kelvin degrees above absolute zero.
On April 7, Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) – a joint development by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) – reached its final operating temperature below 7 kelvins (minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 266 degrees Celsius).
Along with Webb’s three other instruments, MIRI initially cooled off in the shade of Webb’s tennis-court-size sunshield, dropping to about 90 kelvins (minus 298 F, or minus 183 C). But dropping to less than 7 kelvins required an electrically powered cryocooler. Last week, the team passed a particularly challenging milestone called the “pinch point,” when the instrument goes from 15 kelvins (minus 433 F, or minus 258 C) to 6.4 kelvins (minus 448 F, or minus 267 C).
Before science operations can begin the instruments still need further calibration and testing. Expect the first infrared images sometime in the next month or so.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in the past two weeks has the mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuses to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
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I’ve got to be honest… I’m extremely pleased and also surprised with the success ( so far ) of the James Webb. I anticipated one of the several hundred points of failure failing.
Now I’m eagerly awaiting for the first science results. I know it’s not a literal replacement for the Hubble, but I’m looking forward to those infrared pictures of the early universe.
For those interested here is a Smarter Every Day on Destin’s Father working on the Webb sun shield. It happens he is a metrologist on the sunshield. From the video there appears to be a bit more to the design than just a shield. The 5 layers apparently also act as a wave guide to direct the heat (radiation) out from the sides and away from the instrument.
They perform measurements of the shield in gravity and run these points into a 3D model that predicts what the shape will be in space and under gravity.
There’s no mention of the cost, schedule delays etcetera …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu97IiO_yDI&t=437s
Lee S wrote: “I’ve got to be honest… I’m extremely pleased and also surprised with the success ( so far ) of the James Webb. I anticipated one of the several hundred points of failure failing.”
Thankfully to this point, so did the engineers.
Ditto on the comment. Not there yet, but close.
Smarter Every Day also has an episode on how lunar samples are stored, cataloged, and issued for scientific studies.