Technology that has enabled humans to engineer their way to the next frontier for generations reached new heights with the successful deployment of a premier space telescope that will peer into the epoch when the first stars and galaxies were formed more than 13,5 billion years ago.
“The engineers and scientists who started working on the James Webb Space Telescope many years ago are finally getting to see the fruits of their labour,” said Jason Clark, who manages Texas Instrument’s space and avionics systems team. “The engineering and ingenuity that went into the telescope are amazing. And to realise that semiconductor devices from our company are playing a role in this incredible telescope is pretty cool, pretty momentous.”
Dozens of space-grade, high-reliability devices from our company are helping the Webb Telescope extend humanity’s reach into deep space, including:
• Data converters: Precision data converters manage the telemetry and voltage sensing for monitoring the health of the spacecraft.
• Power: Power management, including voltage regulators, is critical to generate the power needed for satellites to perform all their functions. There is no room for failure for these types of devices.
• Op amps: Operational amplifiers, including a high-speed op amp, are used for imaging applications.
• Digital signal processors: DSPs help operate system compute functions in the spacecraft.
• Interface: Transceivers and LVDS receivers are used for command and control of the spacecraft and shuttling data across different instruments on the telescope.
• Logic: Logic chips are used throughout the telescope for numerous applications.
Clark continued, “TI’s radiation-hardened and radiation-tolerant products and technical resources help engineers design satellite systems that can operate for decades in space. With our inventory of space-grade products and space system expertise, engineers can meet mission-critical requirements and create systems with greater integration and power density, highest precision accuracy and highest bandwidth.”
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