Status: 09.01.2022 12:02 p.m.
When the mirror systems are extended, the preparations are complete – the Webb telescope will soon be taking pictures of the oldest galaxies in space and sending them to Earth. NASA spoke of a “milestone”.
The James Webb Space Telescope has been deployed. According to the US space agency NASA, the last step in preparation for commissioning has thus been successful.
Accordingly, the six-meter main mirror of the space telescope was fully extended, as the authority announced on Saturday (local time). It consists of beryllium, a cold-resistant light metal. Its 18 segments are hexagonal, about the size of a café table and coated with a wafer-thin layer of gold that reflects infrared light. Because of its outer layer, the scientists named the mirror “gold eye”.
First recordings probably in summer
A few days ago the sun protection of the telescope was opened, then the mirror systems followed. This was another “milestone”, said NASA boss Bill Nelson. According to the authority, the two wings of the mirror plates were remote-controlled unfolded for days and finally anchored. Failures in this preparatory work could have meant a failure of the entire project. This is followed by a phase of five months with further alignments and calibrations before the actual mission can begin with the first recordings.
The telescope, built jointly by space agencies in Europe, the USA and Canada, is intended to explore the oldest galaxies in space. Scientists hope that the images will provide information about the time after the Big Bang, around 13.8 billion years ago, among other things. The first data and images from the telescope are not expected until summer at the earliest.
Successor to the Hubble telescope
The James Webb telescope was launched on December 25th aboard an Ariane launcher from the European space station Kourou in French Guiana. It is supposed to fly 1.5 million kilometers into space and take about four weeks for this route. It should have reached its place of use in around two weeks.
According to the operator, the telescope was developed for around 30 years and cost around 10 billion dollars (8.8 billion euros). It is the most expensive and powerful space telescope ever built and follows the “Hubble” telescope, which has been in use for more than 30 years.