Friends of NIRSpec at Goddard Space Flight Center
Date: 30 September 2013
Satellite: JWST
Depicts: Friends of NIRSpec at Goddard Space Flight Center
Copyright: NASA/Chris Gunn
NIRSpec, (the Near InfraRed Spectrograph – visible in the background of this photograph) - arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on 20 September 2013.
Pictured here are some of the NIRSpec team members involved in the inspection and testing of the instrument. From left to right: Maurice te Plate (ESA, System Integration & Test Manager), Ralf Ehrenwinkler (EADS Astrium, NIRSpec AIT Lead), Andreas Roedel (EADS Astrium, NIRSpec Optical Engineer), and Max Speckmaier (EADS Astrium, NIRSpec AIT engineer).
NIRSpec, one of four instruments on JWST, is a multi-object spectrograph capable of observing more than 100 astronomical objects simultaneously. It will support JWST's four main science themes by providing low, medium and high-resolution spectroscopic observations.
NIRSpec is built by European industry to ESA's specifications and managed by the ESA JWST Project at ESTEC, the Netherlands. The prime contractor is EADS Astrium GmbH in Ottobrunn, Germany. The NIRSpec detector and MSA subsystems are provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
