Due to its sensitivity, MIRI will be able to penetrate the dust obscuring distant objects, allowing for smaller and fainter objects than have never been detected to be mapped in unprecedented detail. Leicester engineer Piyal Samara-Ratna (centre) played a leading role in integrating the instrument into the observatory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.Īmongst other things, it will be able to see the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang, along with studying planet formation around distant stars. It will have a key role in the study of light that has travelled from the early moments of the universe by JWST. MIRI offers a sensitivity and resolution many times greater than any other mid-infrared instrument in existence today or for the foreseeable future. All of this has required incredible feats of engineering and teamwork, which can be truly celebrated today.” We also ensured MIRI was delivered safely to NASA and played a leading role in the integration of MIRI onto the observatory. “We designed and manufactured many of the components used in the flight instrument and led the tests to confirm the instrument’s ability to survive launch. He said: “The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope is a truly momentous occasion and marks the successful completion of the collaborative design, planning and execution of thousands of experts across the world. Piyal Samara-Ratna is part of the Leicester team which made major contributions to the design, build and test of MIRI, and played a leading role in integrating the instrument into the observatory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Leicester engineers provided the mechanical engineering lead for the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to be carried on board the joint NASA, European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency mission, which launched from Kourou in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. Webb can focus on some of the Universe’s most distant objects, effectively looking back in time all the way to the “let there be light” moment-the instant when matter in a cold, dark universe coalesced and ignited to become the first stars. The product of intensive research and design, JWST is 100 times more powerful than the 31-year-old Hubble Telescope. Space scientists at the University of Leicester are celebrating the launch of the most advanced space observatory ever built.Īfter 25 years and a $10bn (£7.6 million) NASA investment, University of Leicester astronomers, space scientists and engineers who have played a key role in the planning and construction of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), finally saw their hard work come to fruition following a tense but successful launch on Friday, Decem– predicted to become known as ‘the day our understanding of the universe changed.’
Leicester Space scientists celebrate the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope Webb aboard Ariane 5 prior to launch, Christmas Day 2021
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