The five-layer, tennis court-sized sunshield for the Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) -built James Webb Space Telescope has passed the critical design review, certifying that its design is complete and meets mission requirements. By achieving thermal, deployment and stray-light targets, the sunshield is now ready for manufacturing.
“Passing this review is the culmination of years of intense effort meeting the unique challenges that have defined this mission, ” said Scott Willoughby, Webb Telescope program manager for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector.
“This is the first time a sunshield of this size and complexity will fly on a space telescope. We’ve achieved a very significant mission-critical milestone with this important validation of our sunshield design, ” he said.
Expected to launch in 2014, the telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) will speak tomorrow at the Potomac Officers Club. For more information, click here.
