Universe  ID: 11763

Webb Telescope's NIRSpec Instruments Cover Is Removed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Released on February 10, 2015
The Webb Telescope's Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) has it's protective cover removed in preparation for surgery. Airbus engineers prep the European Space Agency instrument for an upgrade of its Micro Shutter Array (MSA) and its Focal Plane Assembly (FPA). The NIRSpec instrument is Webb Telescope’s primary spectrograph. This instrument will reveal the physical and chemical properties of objects Webb images. NIRSpec's Micro Shutter Array is a new technology developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for the Webb Telescope mission. The MSA consists of more than 62,000 microscopic doors. These doors can be manipulated to allow light from select sources to reach the detector. This system enables astrophysicists to collect information from 100 objects simultaneously, greatly increasing Webb’s science gathering power. NIRSpec will be the first spectrograph in space that has this capability.
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B-roll video of Airbus engineers prepping the NIRSpec instrument for surgery at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Credits

Michael McClare (HTSI): Lead Producer
Michael McClare (HTSI): Lead Videographer
Swarupa Nune (InuTeq): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11763

Mission:
James Webb Space Telescope - JWST

This item is part of this series:
Astrophysics B-Roll

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> JWST
SVS >> James Webb Space Telescope
NASA Science >> Universe
SVS >> NIRSpec