The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed all five layers of its tennis-court-sized sunshield, a prerequisite for the telescope's science operations and the most nerve-wracking part of its risky deployment.
The James Webb Space Telescope has successfully deployed all five layers of its tennis-court-sized sunshield, a prerequisite for the telescope's science operations and the most nerve-wracking part of its risky deployment.
Securing the right tension for each of the sunshield's five layers was achieved today using a complex system of cables and motors pulling at the corners of the diamond-shaped sunshield. "This is a really big moment, I just want to congratulate the entire team," one of the operations managers could be heard saying in the webstream upon confirmation of the fifth layer being completed. "We still have got a lot of work to do, but getting the sunshield deployed is really, really big."
Since Webb observes infrared light, or heat, it has to be kept at extremely cold temperatures so that there is no heat from Webb that could obscure its observations. By reflecting both incoming solar radiation and heat from planet Earth, the sunshield keeps Webb perfectly cold. Against all obstacles The challenging operation was conducted as humans on Earth contend with a new surge of the COVID-19 virus brought about by the recently discovered Omicron variant, which forced many team members into isolation.
With the sunshield now fully unfurled and tensed, the operations teams will move on to the deployment of the telescope's secondary mirror.
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