Amazing Miniaturized 'SIDECAR' Drives Webb Telescope's Signal
20 February 2008
Many technologies have become so advanced that they've been miniaturized to take up less space and weigh less. That's what happened to detector controls and data conversion electronics on the James Webb Space Telescope being built by Northrop Grumman. The electronics will convert analogue signals to digital signals and provide better images to Earth.
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This image of star forming regions in Orion and S-140 was taken with the Univ. Hawaii's 2.2 meter telescope and processed with four SIDECAR microprocessors. Credit: UHIA, D. Hall, K.W. Hodapp, C. Aspin |
SIDECAR ASIC means "System for Image Digitization, Enhancement, Control And Retrieval Application Specific Integrated Circuit." This tiny advanced low-noise, low-power microprocessor-based control chip was designed by Teledyne Imaging Sensors, Thousand Oaks, Calif. to convert the analogue signals (which is what television stations currently broadcast) into digital signals (which television stations will broadcast starting Feb. 2009). Like televisions, the Webb telescope is getting several of those converter boxes. Digital signals can be easily transmitted and stored.
There are also several benefits to the extreme miniaturization of the SIDECAR. Further, it's about the size of a half-dollar and can do the same job as an electronics box weighing 9 kg. Its smaller weight also makes it easier to launch.
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The SIDECAR ASIC is a small, half-dollar-sized microprocessor developed for use on the JWST. Also shown is the SIDECAR ASIC in spaceflight package. Credit: Teledyne Imaging Systems |
The three instruments that will use the SIDECAR on the Webb telescope are the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), and the Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). These instruments all use highly sensitive infrared detectors to study distant stars, planets, and galaxies. SIDECAR will sit next to each of these detectors like a sidecar on a motorcycle, and the microprocessor will control these infrared detectors.
SIDECAR will convert the analogue signals from the infrared detectors into digital data which is much more robust and easier to transmit. Without the SIDECAR, the analogue signals might be corrupted in transmission and the science images would be lost or damaged.
"The significant technical advancement in the SIDECAR is its very low noise - the analogue to digital conversion is nearly perfect, adding no significant noise to the image; and its very low power - the SIDECAR consumes only 11milliwatts of power," said Markus Loose, lead designer of the SIDECAR at Teledyne. Low consumption of power is important for keeping the telescope's science instruments cold (37 Kelvin) as they collect faint signals from objects near the edge of the universe.
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Artist's conception of what JWST will look like in space. Credit: NASA |
Astronomers are "test-driving" four SIDECARs that were installed in early 2007 in the University of Hawaii's 2.2 metre telescope on Mauna Kea. Since then they have been collecting science data and giving scientists experience in operating the SIDECAR so that its performance is optimal by the time that the Webb telescope flies.
The concept for the SIDECAR was proposed in June 2000 through a program for Webb telescope technology development by the University of Hawaii and Teledyne Imaging Sensors, formerly the Rockwell Science Center. After seven years, the SIDECAR passed an important milestone in 2007 when an independent review team concluded that the technology had been shown to be ready for use on the Webb telescope. That test confirmed that SIDECAR could handle the radiation, vacuum, and the cold of the space environment.
As a result of SIDECAR's success in the review and in ground-based telescopes other missions are planning to use it, and there's a plan to install it in the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008.