Washington: The James Webb Space Telescope, said to be the most powerful space telescope ever built, completed its two-week-long deployment phase on Saturday, reported news agency AFP. The telescope unfolded its final mirror panel as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history. “The final wing is now deployed,” NASA said on Twitter, adding the team was working “to latch the wing into place, a multi-hour process.”
Because the telescope was too large to fit into a rocket’s nose cone in its operational configuration, it was transported folded-up. Unfurling has been a complex and challenging task — the most daunting such project has ever attempted, according to NASA.
Two weeks after launch, @NASAWebb has hit its next biggest milestone: the mirrors have completed deployment and the next-generation telescope has taken its final form.
Next up for Webb? Five months of alignment and calibration before we start getting images: pic.twitter.com/BOj5O1HS37
— NASA (@NASA) January 8, 2022
The successor to Hubble, Webb blasted off in an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on December 25, and is heading to its orbital point, a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. Its infrared technology allows it to see the first stars and galaxies that formed 13.5 billion years ago, giving astronomers new insight into the earliest epoch of the Universe.
“Before we celebrate, we’ve still got work to do,” NASA said in its live updates. “When the final latch is secure, NASA Webb will be fully unfolded in space.”
🔴 LIVE from mission control: @NASAWebb experts give real-time updates as the telescope's golden honeycomb-like mirror takes its final shape in space.
This marks the end of an unprecedented 14-day deployment process! Use #UnfoldTheUniverse for questions. https://t.co/9ObGVUZvdG
— NASA (@NASA) January 8, 2022
Earlier this week, the telescope deployed its five-layered sunshield — a 70-foot (21 meter) long, kite-shaped apparatus that acts like a parasol, ensuring Webb’s instruments are kept in the shade so they can detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.
(Based on AFP inputs)
