The communications support structure for the data link of the spacecraft that will carry NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into orbit completed a critical design review (CDR), Northrop Grumman [NOC] said in a statement.
The Webb telescope spacecraft’s communications support structure stows and holds the communications antenna when folded for launch. When the telescope unfurls in space, the antenna is released and points to NASA’s Deep Space Network, transmitting data to the world’s scientists.
Northrop Grumman spokeswoman Christina Thompson said Monday in an email the spacecraft bus provides all housekeeping functions for the telescope and instrument modules. Thompson said the spacecraft functions include structural support of the telescope during launch, overall pointing of the telescope, instrument data downlink to the ground, electrical power generation, orbit injection and maintenance.
Another spacecraft structure, the solar array, completed its preliminary design audit and moves into the detailed design phase, according to a company statement. The spacecraft’s solar array supplies all electrical power to the science instruments, communications equipment and computers for the entire telescope and is the first component that deploys once the telescope separates from the launch vehicle.
Thompson said spacecraft construction utilizes graphite fiber composite structural elements, electronics, software, solar cells, batteries and fuel tanks with small rocket engines, giving the spacecraft seven pounds of thrust.
Thompson said the CDR for the spacecraft is scheduled for December 2013 and Northrop Grumman will start manufacturing and assembly of the major spacecraft elements: The structure, propulsion subsystem, solar array and avionics. Thompson said each section of the spacecraft has different elements that need to be assembled, thus each section will have its own CDR before being assembled together to form the complete spacecraft.
After the subassembly CDR, Northrop Grumman will initiate manufacturing of the subassembly components and electronics, Thompson said.
Thompson said launch of the Webb telescope is scheduled for October 2018. Northrop Grumman is under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for the design and development of the telescope, sunshield and spacecraft.
The Webb telescope, the world’s next-generation space observatory, is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the world’s most powerful telescope, according to a Northrop Grumman statement. The Webb telescope will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and study planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint effort between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.