JWST NIRSpec mechanical design

摘要

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission is a collaborative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and is considered as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The European contribution consists in providing the Ariane 5 launcher and two out of the four instruments: a combined mid-infrared camera/spectrograph (MIRI) and a near infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec). This article will address the mechanical aspects of NIRSpec by providing an overview of the design drivers and the related solutions for the structure, the thermal design and the mechanisms so as to achieve the required stringent optical performances. The industrial set-up and the project development status will also be presented.