17 Modes to Discovery: Webb’s Final Commissioning Activities
In this NASA blog post Thaddeus Cesari explains the 17 different instruments modes that need to be approved before NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can begin scientific operations. Cesari wants readers to keep in mind that can follow along as each mode is checked off with the Where is Webb tracker.
Each mode has a set of observations and analysis that need to be verified, and it is important to note that the team does not plan to complete them in the order listed below. Some of the modes won’t be verified until the very end of commissioning.
For each mode we have also selected a representative example science target that will be observed in the first year of Webb science. These are just examples; each mode will be used for many targets, and most of Webb’s science targets will be observed with more than one instrument and/or mode.
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