Northrop Grumman tested the software that will be used to control the 18 mirror segments of NASA‘s James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop Grumman announced July 18.

The tests demonstrated the accuracy of the coarse-phasing mode developed for the Wavefront Sensing and Control System. The system controls the alignment of the mirror segments in order to produce a seamless image, and coarse phasing is one of several processes used to achieve proper alignment.

The tests were performed June 18 using the twin 10-meter telescopes at the Keck Observatory in Kamuela, Hawaii. The Keck telescopes feature segmented, hexagonal mirrors, and the same process used to control the Keck telescopes will be used on the Webb Telescope.