Nichols Martin
Northrop Grumman engineers are set to conduct final tests on NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope after they have unloaded optical and scientific instruments from a shipping container at a company facility in Redondo Beach, California.
The company aims to ensure that the space observatory is ready for its mission before it heads to a Kourou, French Guiana, launch site, NASA said Monday.
JWST will carry science payload containing a 21.3-foot golden primary mirror that forms half of the telescope
Northrop received the payload after the agency completed a series of tests at the Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center.
The agency noted the integrated spacecraft features a sunshield that currently undergoes final assembly and will soon be subjected to environmental tests.
NASA will launch Webb using an Ariane 5 rocket and expects the telescope to deploy its mirrors once released from the rocket and reach the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point.
JWST is designed to examine the solar system and planets surrounding other stars.
