The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has completed one of the most challenging tasks involved in its mission to probe the depths of our universe . This week, NASA successfully deployed the James Webb 21-meter sun shield.
The system is essential for the operation of the telescope. It will make sure your instruments don't get hotter than 380 degrees Fahrenheit so they're cool enough to see the infrared light that Webb is designed to track.
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NASA began deploying the solar shield three days after the telescope's successful launch on December 25. The entire deployment process took the better part of eight days, with a single day hiatus for the agency to optimize the Webb's power systems and tensioning motors. When all the components involved are considered, it 's easy to see why NASA says the process was so challenging.
In all, unfolding and tensioning the sunshade involved 139 release mechanisms, 70 hinge assemblies, eight motors, about 400 pulleys, and about a quarter mile of wiring. If any of those components failed, they could have delayed the entire project.
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At best, it would have been another setback in a long series of setbacks. Following a redesign in 2005, NASA declared the JWST ready in 2016, but manufacturing complications delayed assembly until 2019. The coronavirus pandemic caused further delays in shipping and testing the telescope.
Much work still needs to be done before scientists can use Webb to study black holes and other celestial bodies. For the next five and a half months, NASA has to unfold the telescope's secondary mirror and align its optics.
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