THE MIRROR DEPLOYMENT PROCESS FOR THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
All
of the hexagonal mirror segments have been deployed on the James Webb Space
Telescope, the world's largest space telescope. The careful task of removing
the individual mirror parts of the James Webb observatory from their launch
positions took nearly a week. NASA said its engineers transmitted orders to the
actuators, or motors, to move each section roughly half the length of a paper
clip to free the mirrors from their launch restrictions and provide adequate
space for mirror alignment.
The
James Webb space telescope will soon begin its journey around the sun. The distance
between the Earth and the telescope will be approximately one million miles.
Erin Wolf, the mission's programme manager, also revealed how the James Webb
observatory's mirrors were repositioned and tested. This week, the motors
turned over a million times, according to him. All 132 actuators on the back of
the primary and secondary mirror segments were shifted. The actuators remove
the mirrors from their launch restrictions and provide each section space to be
modified later in different directions, he said, using six motors that deploy
each segment about half the length of a paper clip.
Currently,
the alignment procedure will take about three months. NASA will fire the
thrusters on the James Webb telescope on January 24 to launch it into its orbit
around the sun. Live coverage of the mission will be available on NASA's
Science Live website, as well as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
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