Gary OBrien, Northrop Grumman at MSTC 2022

Dr. Gary O’Brien gives a fascinating presentation at the MEMS and Sensors Technical Congress in April 2022 on how MEMs are used in two space exploration projects launched in 2021: (1) the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and (2) the Mars Helicopter called Ingenuity. Learn how the JWST uses 18 gold evaporated beryllium panels to focus near infrared light into a MEMS micro shutter array that allows it to see 3X further back in time than the Hubble Telescope. The MEMS micro shutter array combines with a color shutter wheel filter to yield wavelength intensity spectrums of small regions of JWST image that show whether “Chemistry of Life” organic molecules such as H2O, CO2, CH4, NH3, and CH3OH exist. Ingenuity uses off-the-shelf batteries and components that can purchased on the internet to enable its avionics architecture and power. This presentation is, literally, “out of this world”. Enjoy!