James Webb Space Telescope’s Cryogenic Cooler Technical Glitches Resolved

Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems has apparently solved technical problems plaguing the James Webb Space Telescope’s cryogenic cooler and is ready to ship the hardware to NASA for environmental testing, the U.S. space agency said.

“The planned delivery date for the cryocooler compressor assembly from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is officially July 28,” NASA spokeswoman Felicia Chou wrote in a July 22 email.

That was apparently news to Paul Hertz, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, who told members of the NASA Advisory Council’s astrophysics subcommittee a day earlier the Mid-Infrared Instrument’s (MIRI) cryocooler had already made the 50 kilometer journey north to Pasadena, California, from Northrop’s Redondo Beach facility.

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