NASA’s Space Telescope Taken to Cleanroom Environment

A major piece of the James Webb Space Telescope, the mirror's primary backplane support, has arrived at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for testing in the X-ray and Cryogenic Test Facility. The backplane is the backbone of the telescope, supporting its 18 beryllium mirrors, instruments, and other elements while the telescope is looking into deep space.

The Webb Telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

To prepare the telescope for the extreme temperatures of space, engineers at the facility have carefully examined the telescope’s mirrors inside a vacuum chamber that simulates the hypercold of space, chilling the hardware from room temperature down to a frigid -414° F. The backplane is the latest and final piece of the telescope to undergo this extreme conditioning at the Marshall Center.

The X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at the Marshall Center is the world’s largest X-ray telescope test facility and offers a cryogenic, cleanroom optical test environment. Cryogenic testing will take place in a 7,600-ft3, helium-cooled vacuum chamber, chilling the Webb support structure from room temperature to simulate the frigid atmosphere of space. While the structure changes temperature, test engineers will precisely measure its structural stability to ensure it will perform as designed in the extreme temperatures of space.

The cryogenic testing is targeted to begin in September.

"This testing of the backplane will verify limited movement of the structure when exposed to cryogenic temperatures," says Helen Cole, project manager for Webb Telescope mirror activities at the test facility. "This is important to overall performance of the telescope."

"Ensuring the best performance for the telescope requires evaluating the hardware at temperatures just as cold as in the environs of space," says Jeff Kegley, the test facility’s manager. "This is the last in a series of Webb Telescope tests our facility has been performing since 2008; it's great to have the hardware here."

A joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb Telescope will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars. ATK built the backplane structure at its facility in Magna, Utah, under a contract with Northrop Grumman.

Integrated Composites Constructs Manufacturing Cleanroom

Integrated Composites, an AGC Aerospace & Defense company, has added a cleanroom environment to its facility in Marina, Calif. The lab is currently configured to Class 300,000 per USAF specifications, in order to support ICI’s engineering research and development capability, as well as manufacturing and assembly operations.

”The addition of the new cleanroom will allow us to build virtually any composite structure to any OEM specification,” says Preston Sandusky, general manager for ICI. “The new facilities will play a tactical role in our commitment to maintain ICI’s position as an industry leader in innovation and production of next generation aircraft components.”

The newly constructed cleanroom gives ICI the capability to meet future customer requests for products requiring controlled tolerances of micron level contaminates. The cleanroom came on line in early summer of this year.

Integrated Composites engineers and fabricates lightweight composite assemblies. With an emphasis in air, sea and land-based weapon mounts, ICI operates a design, development, and manufacturing company specializing in high-performance structures for aerospace, defense, marine, and industrial applications.

AGC Composites & Aerostructures, part of the AGC Aerospace & Defense portfolio, is jointly owned by The Edgewater Funds and Acorn Growth Companies. Its specialized products and capabilities include custom, weight-saving composite structures for legacy weapon systems, composite details and assemblies for aircraft currently in production, precision exotic metal assemblies for aircraft engines, and aircraft structural fusion welding on alloy metal parts for aftermarket spare programs.

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