tech track papers

Categories: 2018, Observation Tools Black Holes and Weather

Wavefront Sensing and Control of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a segmented deployable telescope, utilizing 6 degrees of freedom for adjustment of the Secondary Mirror (SM) and 7 degrees of freedom for adjustment of each of its 18 segments in the Primary Mirror (PM). When initially deployed, the optical elements will be positioned to within a few mm of their nominal positions. The Wavefront Sensing and Controls (WFSC) process will position the optical elements to within a few nm, resulting in a diffraction-limited telescope across the entire science field. It relies primarily on normal imaging modes of the science instrumentation, and special optical elements placed in the internal filter wheel of the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCAM). The WFSC process has benefited from 15 years of development and is now ready to be applied on the Webb Telescope in flight. This paper will describe the WFSC process algorithms and software. The results of flight-like end-to-end simulations showing the commissioning process will also be presented.

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Author: Scott Acton
Topic: Observation Tools, Black Holes and Weather

  • Paper: Wavefront Sensing and Control of the James Webb Space Telescope

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  • Presentation: Wavefront Sensing and Control of the James Webb Space Telescope

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