NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Team deployed its entire 21-foot golden government mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments in preparation for scientific activities.
As a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb mission will explore every phase of the universe’s history – from within our own solar system to distant galaxies farthest observable in the early universe.
“Today, NASA achieved another engineering milestone in decades in the making. While the journey is not complete, I joined the Webb team to breathe a little easier and imagine the future breakthroughs that could inspire the world,” said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. “The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission to see the light from the first galaxies and uncover the mysteries of our universe. Every feat achieved and future achievement is a testament to the thousands of innovators who have poured a lifetime of passion into this mission.”
The two wings of Webb’s main mirror were folded to fit inside the nose cone of the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket before launch. After another week Deploy important spaceships, the Webb team began remotely opening hexagonal segments of the primary mirror, the largest mirror ever launched into space. This is a multi-day process, with the first side deployed on January 7th and Monday on January 8th.
Ground control of the Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore began rolling out the mirror’s second side panel at 8:53 a.m. EST. After it expanded and latched into place at 1:17 p.m. EST, the team announced that all major rollouts were successfully completed.
The world’s largest and most complex space science telescope will now begin moving 18 segments of its main mirror to align the telescope’s optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the back of the segments to bend each mirror – an alignment process that will take months to complete. The team will then calibrate the scientific instruments before delivering the first images of Webb this summer.
“I am so proud of the team – spanning continents and decades – that has delivered this first achievement,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. first of its kind. “Webb’s successful deployment is testament to the very best that NASA has to offer: a willingness to try bold and challenging things in the name of still-unknown discoveries.”
Soon, Webb will also undergo a third mid-key correction burn – one of three intended to place the telescope precisely in orbit around the second Lagrange point, commonly known as L2, close to Earth 1 million miles. This is Webb’s final orbital position, where its visor will protect it from light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon that could interfere with infrared light observations. Webb was designed to go back more than 13.5 billion years to capture infrared light from celestial bodies, with higher resolution than ever before, and to study our solar system and distant worlds. sticky rice.
“The successful completion of all Webb Space Telescope operations is historic,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. “This is the first time that a NASA-led mission has attempted to complete the complex sequence of opening an observatory in space — a remarkable feat for our team, NASA, and the world. ”
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate oversees the mission. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the project for the agency and oversees the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners. In addition to Goddard, a number of NASA centers contributed to the project, including the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Center for Research and Development. research Ames in Silicon Valley, and other centers.
For more information about the Webb mission, visit:
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