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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.