Description: JWST: mirrors and masked men
Image Courtesy: Ball Aerospace
NASA: Who are the masked men? There are technical staff of the Aerospace Ball and the NASA of the Center of Spatial Flight Marshall of beams - x and Facilities Cryogenic, of course, testeando the principal segments of the mirrors of the Spatial Telescope James Webb (JWST).
Programmed for the throwing in 2014, the JWST is optimized for the exploration in infrared of the nearby universe, using a principal mirror of 21.3 feet in diameter, composed of 18 hexagons.
In the photo, a group of mirrors of the JWST is being prepared for testear that expire exactly with the needs. The suits and masks of the technical staff can help to prepare the contamination in the surface of the mirrors.
In the Cryogenic Facilities and of X-rays Marshall, the mirror is proved in the big circular camera after evacuating the air and cooling the camera to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (only 60 grades on the absolute zero). Extremely low pressure and temperature, the conditions of the space simulate it. These test will continue during the following 18 months.
to read more