Good, Good, Good Vibrations and the MIRI
In this photo, two European Space Agency engineers are monitoring the "stresses" put on MIRI during the lift. Now that the MIRI instrument has been secured on the Ambient Science Instrument Mechanical Interface Fixture, its key reference points will be measured by engineers at the Optics Branch of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The measurements are so sensitive and require such precision that no other major activities are allowed to occur in the clean room at the same time. Operations involving cranes would create too many vibrations and even opening the large doors to the clean room would cause air turbulence that could disturb the measurements and add errors to the results. The MIRI will fly onboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the next generation space telescope that will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope. For more information on the Webb telescope, visit: www.jwst.nasa.gov.
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Caption: NASA/Rob Gutro