Episode 11: Great Plane
Host Mary Estacion and ATK Webb Program Manager Bob Hellekson stand in front of the wooden backplane constructed as an early step in the design. Photographer Marty Seilonen
The true backplane of the Webb Telescope is being constructed in the Clean Room. Photographer Marty Seilonen
Host Mary Estacion gets a close-up look at the large backplane with Webb Program Manager Bob Hellekson of ATK. Photographer Marty Seilonen
Shownotes
Webb's 18 separate mirror segments will be held in place by a graphite structure called a backplane. This one-of-a-kind piece needs to be thermally stable to -400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius), and hold Webb's mirror segments steady to within one-ten thousandth the diameter of a human hair. Engineers at ATK in Magna, Utah, take us through the process of designing and creating the backplane.
James Webb Space Telescope's Actual 'Spine' Now Being Built (2009)