The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has an optical prescription which terminates at two focal plane arrays for each module. The instrument will operate at 37K after experiencing launch loads at 293K. The focal plane array housings (FPAHs), including stray light baffles (SLBs) must accommodate all associated thermal and mechanical stresses. In addition, the stray light baffles must be installed in situ on the previously assembled flight modules. The main purpose of the FPAH SLBs is to effectively attenuate mission limiting stray light on the focal planes. This paper will provide an overview of the NIRCam stray light baffle design, mechanical and optical analysis, hardware implementation and test results.

Date Published: 18 September 2013
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 8836, Optomechanical Engineering 2013, 88360T (18 September 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2024374

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8836:
Optomechanical Engineering 2013
Alson E. Hatheway, Editor(s)