Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

ETD Instrument System and Technology Division

ISTD | Code 550

The Bridge to Sciences and Exploration

The Instrument System and Technology Division is composed of many branches all working in conjunction with one another in the research, development, and manufacturing of instruments and technology to advance and benefit the scientific community at large.

A fully functional, 1/6th scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope mirror in an optics test bed.
The JWST Test Bed Telescope (TBT) is a 1:6 scale model of JWST’s telescope with the full sensing capabilities and control authority, located at Ball Aerospace.

Optics Branch (551)

The Optics Branch supports all phases of optical component and system development, including: design, fabrication, verification, and system integration and test. The Branch works from the X-Ray to the infrared, from optical components to instruments and can assist with design and analysis including polarization, radiometry, system modeling and analysis, stray light, and tolerancing.  In support of state-of-the art metrology and integration; the Branch maintains a full complement of alignment tools including laser trackers, laser radar, romer arm, and the first cryogenic photogrammetry system to operate down to 30K.

Contact Code 551 Key Personnel

A crane lifts the flight instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Goddard thermal vacuum chamber where it spent weeks in a space-like environment being cryogenically tested.
The heart of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) and its sensitive instruments, emerged unscathed from the thermal vacuum chamber.

Cryogenics & Fluids Branch (552)

The Cryogenics and Fluids Branch provides world-class expertise in the design and development of low temperature cooling systems and related technologies for space flight applications. Typical science customers are infrared or x-ray detection instruments such as the Astro-H Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) and the James Webb Space Telescope Mid-Infrared Instrument. The Branch provides end-to-end support from general consulting, research and development to integration, testing, and launch support. The Branch also provides expertise for materials testing at cryogenic temperatures and subsystem or system level cryogenic thermal analysis and mechanical design.

Contact Code 552 Key Personnel

A technician in the Detector Packaging Lab.
The Detector Packaging Lab connects the detectors and devices to the outside world, utilizing expertise in areas such as electrical testing, wafer dicing, flip chip bonding, epoxy, die attach, wire bonding, PCB population and assembly.

Detector Systems Branch (553)

The Detector Systems Branch builds a wide range of products from single custom detectors to entire instruments for NASA, other government agencies, universities, and industry. These detectors span the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the millimeter to cosmic rays. In addition, the Branch fabricates and tests particle detectors, Micro-Electro-Mechanical- Systems (MEMS), and Nanotechnology components. The Branch’s detectors can be found on NASA’s spacecraft, aircraft, balloons, and rockets, as well as on Earth-based telescopes.

Contact Code 553 Key Personnel

The Lasers and Electro-Optics Branch provides expertise, facilities, and infrastructure to develop, fabricate and qualify state-of-the-art laser and electro-optics systems for ground-based, sub-orbital, and space flight instruments for Earth and space science applications in collaboration with science, academic, industry and government partners. Branch personnel have provided space flight laser and electro-optics systems for the ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), ICESat-2 Advanced topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), the MESSENGER Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Orbiting Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI).
The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) laser

Lasers & Electro-optics Branch (554)

The Lasers and Electro-Optics Branch provides expertise, facilities, and infrastructure to develop, fabricate and qualify state-of-the-art laser and electro-optics systems for ground-based, sub-orbital, and space flight instruments for Earth and space science applications in collaboration with science, academic, industry and government partners. Branch personnel have provided space flight laser and electro-optics systems for the ICESat Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), ICESat-2 Advanced topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), the MESSENGER Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lunar Orbiting Laser Altimeter (LOLA) and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI).

Contact Code 554 Key Personnel

The IceCube instrument on the left, developed by the Microwave Instrument and Technology Branch, is being deployed from the International Space Station.
The IceCube instrument on the left, developed by the Microwave Instrument and Technology Branch, is being deployed from the International Space Station.

Microwave Instruments and Technology Branch (555)

The mission of the Microwave Instruments and Technology Branch (MITB) is to advance Earth and Space Science and Exploration microwave instruments by researching and developing state-of-the-art technologies, applying technologies, and providing technological expertise for mission concepts, technology infusion, and instrument development. It addresses the scientific needs for advanced and new measurements in the microwave through submillimeter-wave frequency range for future remote sensing and radio astronomy missions. The Branch performs technology and instrument developments including design, fabrication, integration and test, performance analysis, and calibration.

Contact Code 555 Key Personnel