NASA to Ship Webb Telescope to Northrop Facility for Spacecraft Tech Integration

NASA engineers have removed the James Webb Space Telescope from the space agency’s thermal vacuum testing platform installed at the Johnson Space Center following completion of a 100-day cryogenic test.

The agency said Saturday it tested JWST’s optical structure and scientific instruments at Chamber A to determine if the future space observatory could function in a simulated space environment.

NASA intends to deliver the telescope to a Northrop Grumman facility in Redondo Beach, California, where the company’s aerospace systems business will integrate JWST with a sunshield and spacecraft bus.

The infrared space observatory is designed to help astronomers study the solar system, including the origins and structures of the universe.

JSWT is a collaborative effort of NASA and its Canadian and European counterparts.