Mary-Louise Hoffman
A camera system Lockheed Martin and the University of Arizona developed for NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope has passed cryogenic testing at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Lockheed said Tuesday the near-infrared camera technology will act as JWST’s main optical instrument and is built to also align the primary mirror system of the space observatory.
“We designed NIRCam to stringent optical and environmental requirements so it can deliver images from the early origins of the universe,†said Alison Nordt, Lockheed’s NIRCam program manager.
Engineers installed NIRCam and other payload instruments into the JWST Integrated Science Instrument Module in April 2014 and finished cryogenic and vacuum assessments on the structure late last year.
NASA plans to conduct vibration tests for the space telescope’s integrated scientific module this year.
