1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
In a specialized building like this, NASA built a new

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000
machine for science. The James Webb Space Telescope

3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,000
is a complex collection of scientific instruments designed to tackle

4
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000
some of the biggest questions in astrophysics

5
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000
Webb has 4 instruments contained within the Integrated Science Instrument Module

6
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000
or ISIM, located directly behind the primary mirror.

7
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000
They’re all designed to observe in infrared light which is

8
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,000
invisible to human eyes. Infrared is a longer

9
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,000
wavelength of light located on the electromagnetic spectrum

10
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000
just beyond light human eyes can see. We feel infrared light

11
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,000
as heat. 

12
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000
Each of the instruments play a different scientific role.

13
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000
The Near Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, is the main

14
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000
imaging system. NIRCam will look back in time to

15
00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000
study the formation of the earliest stars and galaxies.

16
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,000
One aspect of its design includes the ability to block light

17
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,000
from a bright object so much that a much dimmer object nearby

18
00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000
might be observed. This means, that in addition to looking at

19
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000
distant objects from the earliest days of the universe, scientists

20
00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,000
hope to study aspects of planets orbiting nearby stars.

21
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000
The NIRCam instrument also plays a key role in the process

22
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000
of aligning Webb’s 18 primary mirrors, its secondary mirror

23
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,000
and its Fine Steering Mirror, using a clever technique

24
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,000
called Wave Front Sensing and Control.

25
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,000
One of the best ways to find out new information about

26
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,000
distant objects, is through the analysis of the light those

27
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000
emit. The Near Infrared Spectrograph, or NIRSpec

28
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,000
will collect spectral information about distant objects in order

29
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000
to determine their composition, temporature, velocities and mass

30
00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,000
to do this, NIRSpec will employ a unique technology

31
00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000
called a Microshutter Array. It’s an extraordinary

32
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,000
collection of mechanical shutters, each barely wider than the thickness

33
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,000
of a human hair, that can simultaneously collect

34
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,000
high-resolution data from up to 100 distant objects

35
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,000
different wavelengths of light present different information

36
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,000
and each of Webb’s scientific instruments pursues different slices

37
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000
within the infrared spectrum. The Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI

38
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000
will look at wavelengths of light that are a little longer than

39
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,000
the other instruments will observe. Not only will this enable

40
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000
extraordinary images, but it will also allow scientists to search

41
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000
for planets around distant stars, dust warmed by starlight

42
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,000
and protoplanetary disks and comets and asteroids in our 

43
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,000
own solar neighborhood.  MIRI is 

44
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,000
the coldest instrument on Webb, operating at just 6 degrees 

45
00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,000
Celsius or 11 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero.

46
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,000
The fourth part of Webb’s instrument suite is two instruments.

47
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,000
The Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS)

48
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000
working in concert with the Fine Guidance Sensor will look

49
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000
ancient light in the universe and information about planets around distant

50
00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000
stars. The Fine Guidance Sensor helps keep Webb 

51
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000
pointed and perfectly steady during all observations.

52
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,000
Together, these instruments and 

53
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,000
the technologies that will enable them will make up one of the most complex and ambitious 

54
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:39,000
undertakings in the history of humanity

55
00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,830
This is the James Webb Space Telescope.

56
00:03:44,830 --> 00:03:44,832
music