NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Successfully Makes Critical Milestone

The test teams have successfully passed a critical milestone to demonstrate that NASAof James Webb Space Telescope will respond to commands once in space.

Known as the “Earth Segment Test,” this is the first time that commands to power up and test Webb’s scientific instruments have been sent to the fully assembled observatory from its mission operations center at Space. Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland.

Since reliable communication with Webb in space is a top priority for NASA, tests like these are part of a comprehensive regime designed to validate and ensure that all observatory components will work in the space with the complex communication networks involved in both command shipments, and downlink of scientific data. This test successfully demonstrated the complete end-to-end flow of science planning that Webb will perform to publishing science data to the community archives.

“This was the first time we did this with the flight hardware and the Webb ground system. We performed pieces of this test during observatory assembly, but this is the very first end-to-end operation of the observatory and ground segment. This is a big milestone for the project and very rewarding to see Webb perform as planned, ”said Amanda Arvai, deputy head of the mission operations division at STScI in Maryland.

In this test, commands to sequentially turn on, move, and operate each of Webb’s four science instruments were relayed from the Mission Operations Center. During the test, the observatory is treated as if it is a million kilometers away in orbit. To do this, the air operations team connected the spacecraft to the Deep Space Network, an international network of giant radio antennas that NASA uses to communicate with many spacecraft. However, because Webb is not yet in space, special equipment was used to emulate the actual radio link that will exist between Webb and the Deep Space Network when Webb is in orbit. The commands were then relayed through the Deep Space Network emulator to the observatory, which is currently located in a Northrop Grumman cleanroom in Redondo Beach, California.

“It was also the first time that we demonstrated the complete cycle of conducting observations with the observatory’s scientific instruments. This cycle begins with the creation of an observation plane by the ground system which is linked to the observatory by the flight operations team. Webb’s science instruments then performed the observations and the data was transmitted to the mission’s operations center in Baltimore, where the science was processed and distributed to the scientists, ”Arvai said.

When Webb is in space, orders are routed from STScI in Baltimore to one of the three Deep Space Network locations: California, Spain, or Australia. The signals will then be sent to the observatory in orbit nearly a million kilometers away. In addition, the NASA tracking and data relay satellite network, the space network in New Mexico, the European Space Agency’s Malindi station in Kenya and the European Space Operations Center in Germany will also help maintain a constant open line of communication with Webb at all times.

To complete the ground segment test, a team of nearly 100 people worked together for four consecutive days. Due to staff restrictions in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19[feminine), sept personnes seulement étaient présentes à l’intérieur du centre des opérations de la mission, les autres travaillant à distance pour suivre régulièrement les progrès. Prochaine étape pour Webb: des tests acoustiques et de vibration sinusoïdale au niveau de l’observatoire qui démontreront que le télescope assemblé est capable de survivre aux rigueurs du lancement en l’exposant à des conditions similaires.

Webb est le prochain grand observatoire des sciences spatiales de la NASA, qui aidera à résoudre les mystères de notre système solaire, à regarder au-delà des mondes lointains autour d’autres étoiles et à sonder les structures mystifiantes et les origines de notre univers. Webb est un programme international dirigé par la NASA, avec ses partenaires ESA (Agence spatiale européenne) et l’Agence spatiale canadienne.