NASA studying issue with JWST instrument - SpaceNews

20 that it had stopped using one of four observing modes on the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on JWST after a mechanism that supports that observing mode “exhibited what appears to be increased friction” during preparations for an observation.

The other three observing modes — imaging, low-resolution spectroscopy and coronagraphy — are not affected, and observations using those modes of MIRI are continuing.

Engineers “do not anticipate that this will preclude this will preclude using this instrument in the future, but they wanted to understand why they’re seeing this particular increase in friction,” said Eric Smith, JWST program scientist at NASA Headquarters, during a press conference later in the day.

He said after the briefing that the demands on the Artemis 1 mission may limit the amount of time the DSN can communicate with JWST.

At the IAC press conference, the mission released an infrared image of the planet Neptune, its rings and moons, the most detailed look at the distant planet since the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by it in 1989.

“James Webb has been delivering data to us for a little over two months, and already in that time it’s revolutionized the field of very early and distant galaxies,” said Guido Roberts-Borsani, a postdoc at UCLA involved in those observations, at the press conference