The Canadian Space Agency has delivered a test unit of the fine guidance sensor (FGS) for the James Webb Space Telescope to Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The FGS consists of two specialised cameras that will work like a guiding scope to allow the Webb space telescope to locate its celestial targets, determine its own position and remain pointed at an object for high-quality data.
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The FGS will measure the position of guide stars with precision, pinpointing them with an accuracy of one millionth of a degree.
Webb will be the first next-generation large space observatory designed to detect light from 14 billion light years away to study the history of the universe.
The FGS hardware has been tested at the Canadian Space Agency to ensure that the final version will function at peak performance.
Nasa Goddard Webb telescope instrument systems manager Scott Lambros said that the delivery of the FGS engineering test unit (ETU) was another milestone towards the launch of the Webb telescope.
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By GlobalData“In the coming months, we will use the ETU to test interfaces between the FGS instrument and the Webb observatory, to ensure that any discrepancies will be accounted for in the flight versions of the hardware,” he said.
