![]() ![]() The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, has revolutionized astronomy with more than 1.4 million observations of stars, galaxies, and planets during its 31 years of operation. To fully understand why the Webb telescope is so unique-and why Fienup and two other key contributors with Rochester ties became involved in its development-you first need to need to understand what happened with Webb’s predecessor.ĭespite an embarrassing debut, the Hubble Space Telescope proved to be one of NASA's most successful missions. The algorithms will compare the blurry images of a bright reference star taken by the telescope to how the star should actually appear-and adjust seven actuators on each of the mirrors accordingly.Īnd just in case the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team using the algorithms runs into unexpected difficulties, Fienup and his students will be standing by with even more robust algorithms they’ve developed specifically for worst-case scenarios. And to scores of other Rochester faculty members, students, and alumni who have contributed to the project.įienup and his talented team of PhD students developed the phase retrieval algorithms that can be used to finely tune the 18 hexagonal mirrors. This marvel of engineering-this exquisite balancing of sheer bulk and exacting precision-owes much to Fienup. Only after the mirrors are aligned to within one-ten thousandth of a millimeter will Webb be able to transmit what no human has ever seen before-remarkably clear infrared images from 13.5 billion years ago when galaxies and stars were first forming. “So, we’ll start getting these images that are horribly blurred.” ![]() “They’re going to be way off, maybe by a millimeter of where they should be,” Fienup explains. When Webb is deployed-when the telescope is unfolded, along with a sun shield nearly the size of a tennis court-the primary telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirrors will be out of alignment. The largest ever, 14,300-pound, space-based telescope will have to be folded like a drop-leaf table to fit into an Ariane rocket, then endure a bone-jarring liftoff later this year to reach orbit 940,000 miles from Earth and nearly 700,000 miles beyond our moon. ![]() Hopkins Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester.Īnd no wonder. “They’ll look horrible,” says the Robert E. Jim Fienup already knows what to expect when the first images arrive from the James Webb Space Telescope. (Photo courtesy of NASA)Īs the James Webb Space Telescope heads toward its launch date, dozens of Rochester faculty and alumni await the results of their contributions to the project, when the telescope begins sending images from 13.5 billion years ago. November 7, 2021 As the optical telescope element manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, Lee Feinberg '87 has overseen the overall development of the telescope, including three critical technologies: lightweight mirrors, lightweight cryogenic structures, and wavefront sensing and control. ![]()
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