Report The team behind the James Webb space telescope (JWST) scored the Simon Ramo Medal given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for extraordinary success in system engineering and system sciences.
Prize Considering how a project of contributors, including the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), thinks how JWST is deserved. After decades of work and re -working, the observatory was released on December 25, 2021 and final destination A month later. . First images A few months later, it was announced to the public.
While the medals cannot be printed for thousands of people behind the observation, Mike Menzel and Bill Ochs from NASA will receive the Scott Willoughby award from Northrop Grumman. Record Menzel and Willoughby spoke to JWST about his attempts to bring to space from his task concept.
The spacecraft was on the famous budget and program. The problem was how to predict something that has never been done before. NASA Mission Systems Engineer Menzel explains: “Classic system engineering repetition. You take a knife, you put the design on a sheet of paper and then you analyze.”
And analyze. And then analyze a little more in search of performance and performance.
It helped to have a clear goal, says Willoughby. “The purpose of the task was clearly understood and defined by scientists … If you need to be honest with you, you don’t really get cold unless you put a very distant telescope, really cold and put a great optics.
“So, when you talk about the difficulties of predicting what to get, you know, it starts by aligning, don’t you? Do you know, what is this task and is it worth it?”
Menzel, the chief engineer of the project, says: “The problem we have is that James Webb is the first and only. When it comes to cost, you do your best to make predictions.
Menzel, who is an independent technical authority in NASA, is responsible for the technical integrity of the project, Menzel said, “I should have made sure that the cost and the program did not compromise on integrity.”
This sun was something you looked at, ‘Dude, it had never been done before.’ And you know – Someone kept me awake
Willoughby worked on the industry side for the aviation outfit Northrop Grumman, and was usually at a sharp end when it was tested. However, both Willoughby and its range, despite the complexity surrounding the famous folding mirror and instruments, the telescope, which caused the most astonishment, accepted that the infrared astronomy burden was the sun to keep cold.
Menzel praises Northrop Grumman’s expertise in the field of great distribution, but says: “This Sunshield was something you looked at, ‘Man, he had never been done before.” And you know – someone kept me awake.
“This is like a parachute. He can open it, close, open, fold it again, but it is just as good as the last floor. So many times as you practice, you will always be very happy when you see what you are talking about!”
Willoughby accepts. “Half of the single -point failures were the sun.” He tells us that 107 of the 178 release bolts used to secure the observation are in the sun. And these bolts could not be released using explosives for fear of damaging the spacecraft and electronics.
“There is a nut on a bolt and you have reduced the nut into two and then brought together a piece of string – in this case a piece of metal – and when you want to release it with a little insurance, so when you want to release it, it burns the current from this insurance, then the coil expands and then the bolt is separated, if it is separated from three, when it is heard, it is later heard.”
Menzel says: “When you see that the video of these layers has emerged and shifted each other like satin pages in a bed, if you think it’s zero-g like this, you come out of your mind!”
Willoughby and Menzel accept the contributions of thousands of people working for years to perform an observatory, including partners in ESA and CSA.
But NASA can do something like this again? Space Agency may encounter Violent interruptions in the science budget The commitment to a project of millions of dollars, such as JWST, such as JWST, may not be maintained.
Like most NASA, Menzel expects the new manager to come and guide. “I can say this sincerely. This is the people who work for NASA because we love the discovery.
“And I know it will come like a cliché, a little stale, but as long as there is a love of discovery and the desire to explore, NASA and industrial partners can always repeat and make it better.
“James Webb team has achieved a new miracle. There is a larger telescope than Palomar Mountain [the observatory atop Mount Palomar, which is home to three active research telescopes] One million miles away in space and works well.
I think to myself, my holy god, I’m part of a team that puts a telescope in a larger space than Palomar Mountain, four times further than a month
“I prefer to take this design and develop for the next [mission] Because I don’t want a task system engineer to bite his nails, ‘Jesus Christ. We have never started anything like this. Will it work? ‘I prefer the development of what we know to work. “
The couple is proud to represent the team for the prize. Willoughby says: “When you are recognized at this level, ‘Wow!’ System engineering is a very suitable medal;
Menzel says: “In my case, I became a child in the space age; I wanted to be a astronomer. And when I looked at my life again, I think how lucky I am to be a part of this team.
“And I am a part of a team that puts me a telescope in a larger space than Mount Palomar, four times further than a month, and I was proud to be a part of that team. And I think we all realized that it would be the history of it.
“At the right time, at the right time, in fact, we had a rare opportunity to contribute to history. Many of us knew that if we didn’t work, our career would end and most of us were stuck with him. The majority of the people in this business knew whether they were unsuccessful and we know that we were proud of me. ®
