1 00:00:13,330 --> 00:00:14,330 Transcript for Behind The Webb Episode 19: Spinning a Webb. 2 00:00:14,330 --> 00:00:16,430 Mary Estacion/Reporter: What does the James Webb Space Telescope have to do with the world's 3 00:00:16,430 --> 00:00:18,270 largest centrifuge? 4 00:00:18,270 --> 00:00:22,960 We're here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Beltsville, MD to find out. 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:23,960 Mary: Hi Bill. 6 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:24,960 Bill Chambers/Project Engineer: Hi Mary. 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:30,020 Mary: I was told you can tell us more about this centrifuge that we're standing on. 8 00:00:30,020 --> 00:00:32,540 The only centrifuge I know was in my chemistry lab. 9 00:00:32,540 --> 00:00:35,030 Bill: It's exactly that, except bigger. 10 00:00:35,030 --> 00:00:37,820 Mary: So why does Goddard have such a big centrifuge? 11 00:00:37,820 --> 00:00:43,870 Bill: We use the centrifuge here to generate the same forces that a payload would see when 12 00:00:43,870 --> 00:00:45,040 it's launched on a rocket. 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:46,620 Mary: How big is this thing? 14 00:00:46,620 --> 00:00:54,930 Bill: This room is about 150 feet in diameter and the centrifuge is about 140 feet in diameter. 15 00:00:54,930 --> 00:01:00,830 We can spin this arm to about 156 miles an hour, but the wind is actually 200 miles an 16 00:01:00,830 --> 00:01:02,340 hour when we're spinning. 17 00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:04,549 Mary: So is it like being in a hurricane or something? 18 00:01:04,549 --> 00:01:09,050 Bill: If you were at the center of the centrifuge and it wasspinning, you would see or feel 19 00:01:09,050 --> 00:01:10,050 no load. 20 00:01:10,050 --> 00:01:15,090 Mary: So what kind of payloads, if you will, do you test on a centrifuge of this size? 21 00:01:15,090 --> 00:01:17,180 Bill: We test large spacecraft. 22 00:01:17,180 --> 00:01:20,350 We've tested small parts of the spacecraft. 23 00:01:20,350 --> 00:01:23,830 We've tested SUVs here on this centrifuge. 24 00:01:23,830 --> 00:01:28,740 Mary: Well, thank you so much for introducing us to the world's largest centrifuge and we're 25 00:01:28,740 --> 00:01:32,070 going to talk to someone else to find out how JWST is using this. 26 00:01:32,070 --> 00:01:38,320 Mary: So Eric, you guys are using this centrifuge to test pieces of the James Webb Space Telescope? 27 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:39,320 Eric Johnson/ISIM Structure Manager: That's right. 28 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:41,060 We have our ISIM structure up here. 29 00:01:41,060 --> 00:01:44,450 It's the structure that holds all the science instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope 30 00:01:44,450 --> 00:01:49,300 and we're using the centrifuge, kind of like a big merry go round, spin it up really fast 31 00:01:49,300 --> 00:01:55,780 and show that thestructure can hang onto the telescope, just like it will have to do during 32 00:01:55,780 --> 00:01:56,780 the launch. 33 00:01:56,780 --> 00:02:00,760 We're going to test to 7Gs to show that it can hold onto the rocket. 34 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,070 Mary: 7Gs... is it like we're 7 times heavier than we are? 35 00:02:04,070 --> 00:02:05,280 Eric: That's exactly what it is. 36 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,539 7 times the earth's gravity and then when it gets to zero G way out in space, we have 37 00:02:10,539 --> 00:02:14,099 to show that it's the same shape as it was here on earth. 38 00:02:14,099 --> 00:02:17,780 Mary: Well thanks Eric for showing us how the James Webb Space Telescope program is 39 00:02:17,780 --> 00:02:18,909 using the centrifuge. 40 00:02:18,909 --> 00:02:20,380 Eric: My pleasure. 41 00:02:20,380 --> 00:02:25,970 Mary: Now you can see how a virtual spin around the block will help make sure the James Webb 42 00:02:25,970 --> 00:02:30,470 Space Telescope withstands the forces and stresses during launch. 43 00:02:30,470 --> 00:02:33,110 Thanks for joining us for another edition of Behind the Webb.