Our upcoming infrared space observatory, @NASAWebb, will launch in 2021. It will spy the first luminous objects that formed in the universe and shed light on how galaxies evolve and many other mysteries. Dive deeper with this advanced Q&A: https://bit.ly/2LJYSR5 pic.twitter.com/Q66J8v7myM
-
@JimBridenstine there should be a final full scale thermal vacuum test b4
. Where? #biggestvacuumchamber at NASA Plum Brook. Only chamber on
large enough to test entire system. #savemoneytestfirst
Testing the whole observatory at once at thermal vacuum is extraordinarily difficult if not infeasible. Even with significant upgrades Plum Brook probably wouldn't achieve the boundary conditions necessary to get good information. There are other better ways to test. 1/
-
-
We validated the sunshield design & verified the thermal models by testing a 1/3 scale version in thermal vacuum. We measured heat flow across a flight-like mock-up of the core region of the observatory (thermally it's like "Grand Central Station" for the observatory). 2/
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
All this plus how heat moved around in our Chamber A tests tells us about all observatory heat flow and that thermally the design will work. Other key flight pieces (flight midboom assembly/stowed spacecraft element, etc) have been/will be tested at thermal vacuum. 3/
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.