Press Release - November 2012
Minus K Negative-Stiffness Vibration
Isolators 2-6 Ordered for
James Webb Space Telescope
For Immediate Release
(Inglewood, California, November 1, 2012) - Inglewood, California, Minus K Technology, Inc. has received the order to provide vibration isolators, numbers two through six, for the ground testing of the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Minus K completed the order for the first of the six Negative-Stiffness vibration isolators in February 2012.
The JWST will be placed in a thermal vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center and supported by a set of six custom Minus K vibration isolators. "The isolators will utilize Minus K's new thermal compensator device, a passive mechanical device (patent pending), requiring no air or electricity just like our isolators." says Dr. David Platus, president of Minus K and principal inventor of the patented Negative-Stiffness technology. "The compensator will adjust the isolators as the temperature changes throughout the testing at JSC, keeping the JWST in the proper position."
The James Webb Space Telescope is a large-aperture infrared space telescope that has a large mirror, 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. The JWST is planned to be launched from Arianespace's ELA-3 launch complex at European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana. in 2018 aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Minus K Technology, Inc. works with many aerospace and education laboratories for custom vibration isolation systems. They have manufactured custom vibration isolators for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), German Center for Aerospace (DLR), European Space Research and Technology Centre/European Space Agency (ESTEC/ESA) in addition to the JWST custom isolators for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
(Below is a picture of the first isolator and how the Minus K isolators will be used for Ground Testing)
