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The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) extends the reach of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to 28.5 μm. It provides subarcsecond-resolution imaging, high sensitivity coronagraphy, and spectroscopy at resolutions of λ/Δλ ∼ 100–3500, with the high-resolution mode employing an integral field unit to provide spatial data cubes. The resulting broad suite of capabilities will enable huge advances in studies over this wavelength range. This overview describes the history of acquiring this capability for JWST. It discusses the basic attributes of the instrument optics, the detector arrays, and the cryocooler that keeps everything at approximately 7 K. It gives a short description of the data pipeline and of the instrument performance demonstrated during JWST commissioning. The bottom line is that the telescope and MIRI are both operating to the standards set by pre-launch predictions, and all of the MIRI capabilities are operating at, or even a bit better than, the level that had been expected. The paper is also designed to act as a roadmap to more detailed papers on different aspects of MIRI.

Radioisotope power systems utilising americium-241 as a source of heat have been under development in Europe as part of a European Space Agency funded programme since 2009. The aim is to develop all of the building blocks that would enable Europe to

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SUMMARY Spacecraft venturing to the outer planets and beyond—or onto the planetary surface where available solar energy is reduced—benefit from the longevity and consistency of electrical and thermal energy derived from radioisotope energy sources. A review of likely mission requirements and concept studies of small electrical generating units (<10 We) reveals a potential opportunity for a unit with an electrical output of around 1 We that can also supply some heat to the spacecraft to aid thermal control: a radioisotope thermoelectric and heating unit. This power requirement cannot be achieved with current US space‐qualified modular radioisotope fuel assemblies. Additionally, new European programmes consider 241Am fuel to be much more cost effective than 238Pu. Taken together, these factors provide the rationale for taking a relatively ‘clean‐sheet’ approach to design of a radioisotope thermoelectric and heating unit fuelled with 241Am. In this paper, initial requirements and performance targets for such a unit are developed, a simple concept design and thermal model is presented and the performance and mass are estimated. The results suggest that units generating 1–2 We may achieve a specific power of around 0.7–0.9 We kg−1 without the thermal inputs to spacecraft becoming impractically large. Such units can use a bismuth telluride thermoelectric material, which is commercially applied in terrestrial applications and is therefore likely to incur lower cost and development risk than more specialised compounds. This study may form the basis of a more detailed design effort. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.