TY - GEN

T1 - In-flight performance of the NIRSpec Micro Shutter Array

AU - Rawle, Timothy D.

AU - Giardino, Giovanna

AU - Franz, David E.

AU - Rapp, Robert

AU - te Plate, Maurice

AU - Zincke, Christian A.

AU - Abul-Huda, Yasin M.

AU - de Oliveira, Catarina Alves

AU - Bechtold, Katie

AU - Beck, Tracy

AU - Birkmann, Stephan M.

AU - Boker, Torsten

AU - Ehrenwinkler, Ralf

AU - Ferruit, Pierre

AU - Garland, Dennis

AU - Jakobsen, Peter

AU - Karakla, Diane

AU - Karl, Hermann

AU - Keyes, Charles D.

AU - Koehler, Robert

AU - Nimisha, Kumari

AU - Lutzgendorf, Nora

AU - Manjavacas, Elena

AU - Marston, Anthony

AU - Moseley, S. Harvey

AU - Mosner, Peter

AU - Muzerolle, James

AU - Ogle, Patrick

AU - Proffitt, Charles

AU - Sabbi, Elena

AU - Sirianni, Marco

AU - Wahlgren, Glenn

AU - Wislowski, Emily

AU - Wright, Raymond H.

AU - Wu, Chi Rai

AU - Zeidler, Peter

PY - 2022/8/27

Y1 - 2022/8/27

N2 - The NIRSpec instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) brings the first multi-object spectrograph (MOS) into space, enabled by a programmable Micro Shutter Array (MSA) of similar to 250,000 individual apertures. During the 6-month Commissioning period, the MSA performed admirably, completing similar to 800 reconfigurations with an average success rate of similar to 96% for commanding shutters open in science-like patterns. We show that 82.5% of the unvignetted shutter population is usable for science, with electrical short masking now the primary cause of inoperable apertures. In response, we propose a plan to recheck existing shorts during nominal operations, which is expected to reduce the number of affected shutters. We also present a full assessment of the Failed Open and Failed Closed shutter populations, which both show a marginal increase in line with predictions from ground testing. We suggest an amendment to the Failed Closed shutter flagging scheme to improve flexibility for MSA configuration planning. Overall, the NIRSpec MSA performed very well during Commissioning, and the MOS mode was declared ready for science operations on schedule.

AB - The NIRSpec instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) brings the first multi-object spectrograph (MOS) into space, enabled by a programmable Micro Shutter Array (MSA) of similar to 250,000 individual apertures. During the 6-month Commissioning period, the MSA performed admirably, completing similar to 800 reconfigurations with an average success rate of similar to 96% for commanding shutters open in science-like patterns. We show that 82.5% of the unvignetted shutter population is usable for science, with electrical short masking now the primary cause of inoperable apertures. In response, we propose a plan to recheck existing shorts during nominal operations, which is expected to reduce the number of affected shutters. We also present a full assessment of the Failed Open and Failed Closed shutter populations, which both show a marginal increase in line with predictions from ground testing. We suggest an amendment to the Failed Closed shutter flagging scheme to improve flexibility for MSA configuration planning. Overall, the NIRSpec MSA performed very well during Commissioning, and the MOS mode was declared ready for science operations on schedule.

KW - JWST

KW - NIRSpec

KW - MEMS

KW - Micro Shutters

KW - Multi-object spectroscopy

KW - MOS

KW - Operations

KW - INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH NIRSPEC

U2 - 10.1117/12.2629231

DO - 10.1117/12.2629231

M3 - Conference article

VL - 12180

JO - Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging

JF - Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging

SN - 1605-7422

M1 - 121803R

T2 - Conference on Space Telescopes and Instrumentation - Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave

Y2 - 17 July 2022 through 22 July 2022

ER -