4D Receives NASA Award

4D Technology received a 2005 NASA Goddard Achievement in Excellence Award last month for its work with NASA to develop the SpeckleCam, a dynamic electronic speckle pattern interferometer (ESPI) that enables precision metrology on large flight hardware for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The SpeckleCam's acquisition time of nine nanoseconds for a single measurement is 10,000,000 times faster than a conventional phase-shifting interferometer, 4D said, making the system insensitive to vibration and air turbulence. A second, higher-powered unit is currently on order and nearing delivery. Testing involved acquiring measurement data rapidly in a high-vibration environment on nonreflective diffuse surface structures, and meter-class structures needed to be measured from a distance of tens of meters in a cryogenic chamber environment. To accomplish this, 4D said, it combined its pixelated phase-sensor technology with a high-energy pulsed laser.

Lee Feinberg, JWST telescope manager, said, "The ESPI is a critical piece of metrology equipment needed to prove out JWST telescope technology, and the 4D team that developed it are to be congratulated for this significant achievement." 4D has received several awards for its patented phase-sensor technology, the core technology in the ESPI, including a Circle of Excellence Award from Laurin Publishing Co.

The annual Goddard Achievement in Excellence recognizes individuals and teams that have made an exceptional contribution to the performance of the NASA center's mission in any area of work.

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