The OSIM is critical for developing the next-generation telescope

Aug 24, 2012 08:17 GMT  ·  By

This amazing image released by NASA shows the Optical Telescope Simulator (OSIM) instrument at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland. Its purpose is to feed light into the science instruments that will go on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Currently scheduled to launch in 2018, the observatory is the largest and most complex spacecraft ever built. At a price tag of $8.8 billion, it's also the most expensive. In its construction process, the OSIM plays an important role, that of providing a special type of light.

These photons have to be exactly the same as the ones the real telescope optics system will provide into JWST's science instruments. OSIM is therefore extremely important for establishing the alignment and performances of the devices that will actually fly to space.

In this image, OSIM is covered with gold and silver blankets, as it's being prepared to move in a temperature test chamber at GSFC. Here, experts will analyze its behavior during massive temperature swings.