AIAA SGV Seminar
JWST Mechanical Systems Lessons Learned
Guest Speaker: Sandra Irish, JWST Mechanical Systems Lead Structures Engineer
October 13, 2022 at 11:00 am Pacific
The James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on December 25, 2021, and is performing amazingly well on-orbit by already capturing outstanding images of the birth of stars, composition of exoplanets, and new galaxies. It took many years of engineering design and testing in order to obtain this scientific success. The engineers ultimately got it right putting a 6 meter deployable cryogenic telescope in orbit around L2 and it’s working well; however, could they have done it better? What was learned through the many years of design changes and testing? As part of the JWST mechanical systems team for over 16 years, Sandra Irish, JWST Mechanical Systems Lead Structures Engineer, will discuss some of the unique challenges and lessons learned from working through the mechanical design and testing on the program.
Speaker Bio: Mrs. Irish has 39 years of experience in aerospace, working for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She is currently the Mechanical Systems Lead Structures Engineer for the Webb Space Telescope and Lead Structures Engineer for DAVINCI+ Descent Sphere Instrument. Mrs. Irish has been the recipient of the Robert H. Goddard Exceptional Achievement Award for Engineering, Thomas Budney Integrity Award for Engineering, and she has received the NASA Agency Award for Outstanding Leadership for her work on Webb Space Telescope.