High Res TIFF (3.3 MB)

Interferometer test Bed

The Micro-Precision Interferometer test bed located in the high bay of JPL Building 277, has been operational since the early 1990s. It is one of the key test beds in support of the technology development for the Space Interferometer Mission (SIM). The test bed contains all of the subsystems necessary to assess the vibration attenuation technology readiness for observing bright target stars. Under these conditions, optical metrics on the test bed have been attenuated down to the 1 nanometer level.