The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space-based, infrared observatory designed to study the early stages of galaxy formation in the Universe. The telescope will be launched into orbit about the second Lagrange point and passively cooled to 30-50 K to enable astronomical observations from 0.6 to 28 μm. A group from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Northrop Grumman Space Technology prime contractor team has developed an optical and mechanical layout for the science instruments within the JWST field of view that satisfies the mission requirements. Four instruments required accommodation within the telescope’s field of view: a Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), a Near-Infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec), a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and a Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) with a tunable filter module. The size and position of each instrument’s field of view allocation were developed through an iterative, concurrent engineering process involving key observatory stakeholders. While some of the system design considerations were those typically encountered during the development of an infrared observatory, others were unique to the deployable and controllable nature of JWST. This paper describes the optical and mechanical issues considered during the field of view layout development, as well as the supporting modeling and analysis activities.

Date Published: 12 October 2004
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 5487, Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes, (12 October 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.550548

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5487:
Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Space Telescopes
John C. Mather, Editor(s)