James Webb telescope's Miri instrument flies out to US
Published: 29th May 2012 15:19:18 Europe shipped one of its big
contributions to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on
Tuesday. The Mid Infra-Red Instrument (Miri) was flown out of
London Heathrow on a British Airways jet, bound for Nasa's
Goddard Space Flight Center. JWST will be the successor to
Hubble, and aims to track down the very first stars to shine in
the Universe. Miri, built by a pan-European consortium led from
the UK, will play a central role in that endeavour. The
120m-euro (£95m; $150m) instrument, tucked inside its protective
box, was loaded on to BA flight 217 for Washington Dulles
International Airport. The ride across the Atlantic was due to
last about 7.5 hours. On landing, Miri will be driven the
relatively short distance around the US capital's "Beltway" to
Goddard where it will be unpacked on Wednesday. Nasa engineers
will then integrate Miri into the telescope structure prior to
further testing. Webb's launch is planned for 2018