NASA James Webb Space Telescope Infrared Camera Delivered By Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin has announced another milestone in the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope. The heart of the space telescope, the infrared camera, has now been delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. That IR camera has joined the three other instruments that will make up the telescope.

The IR camera and three other instruments will now be mounted inside the telescope structure. The Near Infrared Camera NIRCam will function as the central imaging component of the space telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope JWST is set to replace the Hubble Space Telescope near the end of the decade.

The JWST is the first joint project between the ESA, the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA. Lockheed Martin is a major contractor for the space telescope and is responsible for the optical, mechanical, structural, thermal, and electronic precision mechanisms and software of the NIRCam.

The advanced infrared detector arrays in the camera are from Teledyne Imaging Systems. The camera will make the JWST the most powerful space telescope ever built. The telescope has a massive 21-foot mirror and will allow it to image the most distant objects in the universe. The JWST spacecraft completed its critical design review last month marking another major milestone in the project.

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin