1 00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:17,640 Mary Estacion/Reporter: Almost two dozen countries are helping to build the James Webb Space 2 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,050 Telescope. 3 00:00:19,050 --> 00:00:24,110 Canada is responsible for what some call the observatory's steering wheel, otherwise known 4 00:00:24,110 --> 00:00:27,410 as the Fine Guidance Sensor or FGS. 5 00:00:27,410 --> 00:00:33,090 The Canadians are also delivering one of the four scientific instruments on the telescope, 6 00:00:33,090 --> 00:00:36,510 the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph. 7 00:00:36,510 --> 00:00:41,450 To find out more about the FGS and NIRISS, we're here at the Canadian Space Agency's 8 00:00:41,450 --> 00:00:44,520 David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa, Canada. 9 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,280 Mary: So Karl, why did you want to meet here in a chamber? 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,299 Karl Saad/CSA Project Manager, FGS-NIRISS: Right now we're standing in front of the thermal 11 00:00:50,299 --> 00:00:57,230 vacuum chamber where we've tested the instruments in the vacuum of space and also the cold environment 12 00:00:57,230 --> 00:00:59,059 in which it's going to operate. 13 00:00:59,059 --> 00:01:03,850 So it's key for us to demonstrate that our system that has to be very sensitive but also 14 00:01:03,850 --> 00:01:07,770 have to be robust enough to survive the conditions of the mission. 15 00:01:07,770 --> 00:01:13,070 Mary: Was there some other technology that helped develop the Fine Guidance and the NIRISS? 16 00:01:13,070 --> 00:01:18,180 Karl: Yes, in fact our prime contractor, COMDEV Canada, developed some star tracking software 17 00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:21,490 for other missions and for missions that are currently ongoing. 18 00:01:21,490 --> 00:01:25,300 So we built on that heritage to build the software for this mission. 19 00:01:25,300 --> 00:01:30,210 Mary: So were there any other challenges you had to overcome to build FGS and NIRISS? 20 00:01:30,210 --> 00:01:34,920 Karl: In fact, our team is spread over 3 time zones so in order to keep communications flowing 21 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,950 and also getting decisions in as real time as possible... 22 00:01:37,950 --> 00:01:41,620 That was a challenge but we had a good team, a team that really believed in the mission 23 00:01:41,620 --> 00:01:44,460 so we were very cohesive and we were able to overcome that. 24 00:01:44,460 --> 00:01:48,300 Mary: I understand the FGS and NIRISS are actually here in the building. 25 00:01:48,300 --> 00:01:49,300 Karl: That's right. 26 00:01:49,300 --> 00:01:51,620 This is their home and if you want, we can take a look at them in the tent. 27 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:54,250 Mary: Sounds good. 28 00:01:54,250 --> 00:01:56,000 Karl: Good. 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,800 Karl: On the top here what we have is the Fine Guidance Sensor. 30 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,799 It will basically point the telescope and keep the telescope stabilized so that we get 31 00:02:04,799 --> 00:02:07,540 really sharp images from that. 32 00:02:07,540 --> 00:02:09,759 And on the other side, we have NIRISS. 33 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:13,130 One of the aspects of NIRISS that we're very excited about is that it has a particular 34 00:02:13,130 --> 00:02:15,390 capability to detect exoplanets. 35 00:02:15,390 --> 00:02:22,499 These are planets that are circulating around a star and hopefully, at the same time, detect 36 00:02:22,499 --> 00:02:26,959 if they have atmospheres and if they do have atmospheres, know exactly what these atmospheres 37 00:02:26,959 --> 00:02:28,139 contain. 38 00:02:28,139 --> 00:02:29,459 Is it capable of sustaining life. 39 00:02:29,459 --> 00:02:32,489 Mary: Now I understand Fine Guidance has a redundancy built in, right? 40 00:02:32,489 --> 00:02:33,489 Karl: That's right... 41 00:02:33,489 --> 00:02:37,719 the Fine Guidance Sensor has two cameras and both function the same way and if we have 42 00:02:37,719 --> 00:02:41,790 a problem with one of the channels, we can switch over to the other one and not lose 43 00:02:41,790 --> 00:02:43,749 any capability, any performance. 44 00:02:43,749 --> 00:02:48,139 NIRISS, our science instrument, can also perform guidance functions. 45 00:02:48,139 --> 00:02:52,290 So it's like we have a third level of redundancy as part of the Canadian package. 46 00:02:52,290 --> 00:02:55,969 Mary: Thank you, Karl, for showing us the Fine Guidance Sensor and the NIRISS. 47 00:02:55,969 --> 00:02:57,639 Karl: You're very welcome, Mary. 48 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,400 Mary: So there you have it... 49 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,170 Canada's contribution to the James Webb Space Telescope.