A science instrument known as the Near-InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) is packaged with the guide camera (FGS), but is functionally independent. The NIRISS will be capable of wide-field grism spectroscopy with R~150 between 1.0 – 2.5 microns; single-object grism spectroscopy with R~700 between 0.6 – 3.0 microns; interferometric imaging with a non-redundant aperture mask (MaskNR) between 3.8 - 4.8 µm; and broad-band imaging across its 2.2' x 2.2' field between 1.0 - 5.0 µm. NIRISS is expected to contribute to all of the JWST Science Themes: 1) The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization; 2) The Assembly of Galaxies; 3) The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems; and 4) Planetary Systems and the Origin of Life.
The Canadian Space Agency is providing the NIRISS to the JWST Project. The prime contractor is Com Dev. The Principal Investigator for the NIRISS is René Doyon from the Université de Montréal.
Latest News
2011 NovemberThe FGS and the TFI hardware that will become NIRISS began its final cryogenic performance test campaign at the Canadian Space Agency's David Florida Laboratory in Kanata, Ontario. The tests are scheduled to be completed in early January, 2012.
2011 October 19-20The NIRISS passed its critical design review, which was hosted by Com Dev at their facilities in Kanata, Ontario.
2011 July 20The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) reluctantly discontinued work on the Tunable Filter Imager (TFI) when it became clear that issues associated with the cryogenic operation of its Fabry-Perot etalon were unlikely to be resolved in time to meet the instrument's delivery schedule. Instead, CSA will provide a reconfigured instrument - the Near InfraRed Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) - that enhances the capabilities of the JWST Observatory while being simpler to fabricate and operate.