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JWST’s Pathfinder On the Move

2014 held a lot of excitement for NASA Goddard’s cleanroom. We had a huge piece of James Webb Space Telescope hardware there – which made giving talks and tours about the telescope really fun. Especially since it was really impressive looking! This piece of hardware I’m talking about is the test version of JWST’s backplane. The backplane is like the spine of the telescope and supports the instrument module and the mirrors. Outward from it extends the giant secondary mirror boom. This test piece looks just like the flight one – full-scale and even the same materials.

It was at Goddard for us to do tests with, and to mount our spare mirrors on. When we were finished, it was folded up, packed into a huge travel container, and was shipped off to NASA Johnson for cryogenic tests in their giant Chamber A facility.

Here’s what this structure (known as the Pathfinder) looked like while it was in the cleanroom with the secondary mirror boom extended:

NASA's Webb Telescope Pathfinder Telescope Fully Assembled
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Here is the boom being stowed:

Stowing the Secondary
Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

Then the giant shipping container showed up, which  was pushed into the cleanroom. The shipping container is called STTARS, or Space Telescope Transporter for Air Road and Sea.

STTARS - Space Telescope Transporter for Air Road and Sea
Credit: Maggie Masetti

STTARS - Space Telescope Transporter for Air Road and Sea
Credit: Maggie Masetti

JWST Pathfinder Backplane
Credit: Maggie Masetti

Next, the Pathfinder was moved by crane over to the STTARS. We were able to pull a timelapse off our cleanroom webcams of this event:

Here is the Pathfinder on the crane, being lifted.

JWST Pathfinder Backplane Moves
Credit: Laura Betz

An overhead view of the Pathfinder sitting in the STTARS:

JWST Pathfinder Backplane
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Once the lids were on, STTARS was loaded into a C-5 airplane at Andrews Air Force Base and flown to Texas:

In the belly of a giant...
Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

A Ride on a C-5
Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

STTARS Goes to NASA Johnson
Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover

Here is the STTARS at NASA Johnson:

STTARS Outside Chamber A
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Here the secondary mirror boom is extended and it’s about to go into NASA Johnson’s massive Chamber A for cryogenic testing:

JWST Pathfinder in front of Chamber A
NASA/Chris Gunn

And here the Pathfinder sits in Chamber A, being readied for testing:

JWST Pathfinder in Chamber A
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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