New Delhi: NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), or WebThe most powerful and complex space observatory ever built has achieved a major milestone. The revolutionary telescope fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-covered primary mirror on January 9.
The appearance of Webb’s primary mirror marks the successful completion of the final phase of all major spacecraft deployment to prepare for science operations.
The official Twitter handle of the Webb Space Telescope posted that 50 major deployments were completed with the successful deployment and latching of the telescope’s final mirror wing. In addition, 178 pins have been issued, and more than 20 years of work have been realized.
#nasaweb Perfectly positioned! I
With the successful deployment and latching of our rear mirror wing, that is:
50 major deployments, complete.
178 pin, issued.
20+ years of work, realized.Near #Unfold the Universe: Journey to our orbital destination of Lagrange Point 2! pic.twitter.com/mDfmlaszzV
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) 8 January 2022
Webb, a joint effort between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, will trace every stage of cosmic history from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe.
The space telescope has taken its final shape, and for the next six months, it will cool down, calibrate its instruments, and prepare to reveal the universe.
Following the successful deployment of the primary mirror, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the US space agency has achieved another engineering milestone, according to a NASA statement.
He said the James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission set to look at the light from the first galaxy and discover the secrets of our universe.
When Webb was fitted inside the nose cone of the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket above which it was launched, the two wings of the telescope’s primary mirror were aligned.
Webb has completed other important spacecraft deployments such as the successful deployment of its sunshield.
On 7 January and 8 January, the two primary mirror wings, or side panels, were deployed and successfully latched.
Webb has 18 hexagonal mirror segments that were engineered to fold back to reduce the telescope’s overall profile for flight, and each side panel houses three primary mirror segments.
Revealing the hexagonal segments of the largest primary mirror ever launched into space was a multi-day process.
The Mission Operations Center Ground Control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore helped deploy the side panels of the world’s largest and most complex space science telescope.
What’s next for the web?
Webb will now begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope’s optics. To flex each mirror, the ground team would command 126 actuators behind the segment. This alignment will take months to complete. The team will then calibrate the science instruments. Webb expects to distribute its first images this summer.
The NASA statement, citing Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said Webb’s successful deployment is the best example of what NASA has to offer, trying to do bold and challenging things in name. Space Agency wishes for. Related to the discoveries is still unknown.
Next, Webb will undergo the third mid-course correction burn, one of three planned burns to properly orbit the telescope around the second Lagrange point, or L2, about one million miles from Earth.
L2 is Webb’s final orbital position, where its sunshield will protect it from light from the Sun, Earth and the Moon that can interfere with observations of infrared light.
Webb is a powerful time machine with infrared vision that will look back over 13.5 billion years, to see the first stars and galaxies that formed before the darkness of the early universe.
JWST will use infrared light to observe celestial objects with a higher resolution than ever before, and to study distant worlds in our own solar system as well.
Also read: Explained: How is NASA’s Revolutionary Webb Space Telescope different from Hubble?
Robinson, Webb Program Director at NASA Headquarters, said the successful completion of all deployments of the Webb Space Telescope is historic, as it is the first time a NASA-led mission has attempted to complete a complex sequence to open an observatory. has done. in the space.
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