NASA engineers inspect the array simulator installed on the Near-InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) engineering test unit. The array – featuring microshutter technology developed specifically for the NIRSpec – controls how light enters the spectrograph via thousands of adjustable microscopic windows. It is one of four instruments set to be aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018 – and will be the first spectrograph in space with the capacity to simultaneously capture data for multiple objects (http://jwst.nasa.gov/nirspec.html). Credit: NASA Would you like your photo featured in Image of the Month? Send it to [email protected]
