With James Webb, there was every chance something could go wrong. Due to its size, about half the size of a 737 aircraft, the James Webb Space Telescope had to be folded up for its launch on December 25, 2021 in order to fit inside the Ariane 5 rocket. the 1.5 million kilometer journey to the second Lagrange point , a gravitationally stable point between the sun and Earth, has been slowly unfolding. Now, after the process carried out on Friday and Saturday, as announced by NASA , Webb is already fully deployed in space. This was the last stage of deployment that needed to go perfectly.
The final stage of all major deployments
After more than a week of other critical deployments, Webb’s team began remotely deploying the hexagonal segments of the primary mirror, the largest ever launched into space.
“Today, NASA achieved another engineering milestone in decades. While the journey is not complete, I am joining the Webb team to breathe a little easier and envision future advancements destined to inspire the world,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission that stands on the brink of seeing the light of the first galaxies and unlocking the mysteries of our universe. Every feat already accomplished and future accomplishments are a testament to the thousands of innovators who poured their life’s passion into this mission.”
Although the telescope is now fully deployed, there is still much work to be done. The 18 hexagonal segments of the primary mirror are controlled by a set of 126 motors and the segments are due to be fully tested and calibrated over the course of the next few months. The ship’s systems must also be thoroughly checked before it can begin its scientific mission to study the early history of the universe.
If future stages fail, JWST will not reach its full potential, but it will still surpass Hubble as the most powerful space telescope ever built.
James Webb is expected to arrive at its “insertion location” on January 23, putting it in place to start its engines and glide to its “parking spot,” the L2 Lagrange point about 1.5 million kilometers from our planet. planet. If Webb gets to the right zone, it can use minimal fuel to stay in place thanks to near-perfect alignment with the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Following this orbit will allow the telescope to maintain a stable position in space because the gravitational fields of the Sun and Earth cancel each other out.
NASA engineers will start a series of calibrations, before we can get the first images from the telescope, something that will happen in June 2022, but for now, we can already say that we have a new telescope officially in space. And it is the most sophisticated in the history of mankind.
