JWST mirror production status
2011
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an on axis three mirror anastigmat telescope with a primary mirror, a
secondary mirror, and a tertiary mirror. The JWST mirrors are constructed from lightweight beryllium substrates and the
primary mirror consists of 18 hexagonal mirror segments each approximately 1.5 meters point to point. Ball Aerospace
and Technologies Corporation leads the mirror manufacturing team and the team utilizes facilities at six locations across
the United States. The fabrication process for each individual mirror assembly takes approximately six years due to
limitations dealing with the number of segments and manufacturing & test facilities. The primary mirror Engineering
Development Unit (EDU) recently completed the manufacturing process with the final cryogenic performance test of the
mirror segment assembly. The 18 flight primary mirrors segments, the secondary mirror, and the tertiary mirror are all
advanced in the mirror production process with many segments through the final polishing process, coating process, final
assembly, vibration testing, and final acceptance testing. Presented here is a status of the progress through the
manufacturing process for all of the flight mirrors.
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