Like large technology flowers, James Webb Space Telescope has fully opened the mirror for the last time while still moving, with hexagonal composition reflectors configured precisely for the last test before the launch of the instrument then at 2021. Set to the Hubble Magner as NASA, ESA, and Eye -in-the-sky CSA, Webb is intended to give scientists infrared views that have never happened about the universe.
After being launched, the space telescope was designed to position itself in the Hello orbit on what Lagrange Point (L2) from the sun-sun system. 930,000 miles from Earth, and right opposite the sun, it would be the perfect location to look far into the closest galaxy and observe many older stars than the Hubble or Spitzer Space Telescope.
Before it could happen, of course, Webb needs to be launched, and it raises enormous logistical challenges. The telescope depends on a large mirror – more than 24 feet – for its extraordinary optics, parting to 18 hexagonal pieces. It was the technical achievement itself, but also left the instrument too large to fit the current rockets.
The answer is to rotate the space telescope into the transformer too. Designed to fold so that it can be placed into a 16-foot rocket vortex, then depends on 132 actuators and motorbikes to extend their wings and then position, bend, and flex every mirror to the last recipe.
Indeed, there is no small part of the whole challenges involved in the telescope construction that gets all the parts to work in the right way. After all, unlike Hubble where post-launch repairs can overcome optical problems, there is no way for astronauts to reach Webb if something is wrong after leaving Earth.
This new test, then, is a big obstacle before the Webb team can be sure that the space telescope is ready to wrap it. Just as it will happen after being deployed, instruction orders are removed from Northrop Grumman, CA, which has managed testing instruments. The gravity-offsetting equipment is attached to the telescope itself, to more replicate the environment that will find itself.
“This is not just the sequence of the final spread test carried out by the team to prepare Webb for life in space, but that means when we are done, that the main mirror will be locked in place to be launched,” Lee Feinberg, Optical Telescope, Optical Telescope Element Manager Webb at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the landmark test. “It really senses to think about hundreds of dedicated people throughout the country who work very hard to design and build the main mirror, and now to know the launch so close.”
With that, the team can start several final checks on the list that must be done. It includes testing extensions and withdrawal of radiator telescope assemblies – which help remove heat – and the same for those who can be used. The latter is responsible for separating the telescope mirror and instrument from the spacecraft bus, adding vital isolation from heat and vibration.
Then this year, Webb – and Sunshield are quite large – will be packed into Ariane 5 rockets before the launch. It is currently expected to occur in October 2021.
