James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
COM DEV's Space Science division has been involved in the development of Canada's contribution to the James Webb Space Telescope since 1998. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a 6.6 m, passively cooled deployable telescope, which will orbit the L2 earth-sun point beginning in 2013. NASA is leading the development of the Observatory with their partners the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The Canadian contribution to the mission is the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS).
The primary function of the FGS is to provide continuous pointing information to the Observatory, which is used to stabilize the line of sight, allowing the Observatory to obtain the required image quality. The FGS-Guider portion of the instrument comprises optics that re-image two 2.3' x 2.3' fields of view onto two independent 2048x2048 infrared detector arrays. During normal science operation, the FGS-Guider will provide Observatory pointing knowledge to better than 5 milli-arcseconds.
A secondary function of the FGS is to provide a flexible narrow-band science imaging capability to the Observatory. The FGS instrument incorporates a Tunable Filter Imaging (TFI) channel that re-images a 2.2' x 2.2' field of view through a Fabry-Perot tunable filter onto a 2048x2048 infrared array detector. With a spectral resolution (wavelength / bandwidth) of approximately 100, the FGS-TFI will be the most sensitive astronomical instrument for objects dominated by emission lines in the wavelength range of 1.6 to 5.0 µm.
COM DEV is currently in the detailed design phase of the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), with the fabrication, build and test of the flight unit to commence in 2008.
Canadian industrial participation in this project was made possible by Canadian Space Agency financial participation in this international project.
For more information on JWST, please visit the JWST website
Back row, l to r: John Hackett, Graham Arbery, Brian Moffat, Cor Van Kemenade, Mike Maheau, Terry Girard, Dwight Caldwell
Front row, l to r: Ed Sporbeck, Dennis Henry, Rita Savauge, Robert Deschambault, Mirella Pandeirada