NASA's 'iconic' Webb Telescope opens one last time on Earth, succeeds in pre-launch test

The world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope on May 11 opened its iconic golden mirror for the last time on Earth. While taking to Twitter, NASA Webb Telescope page shared an image of the 21 feet 4-inch mirror and informed that in the “key milestone” event it was commanded to fully expand and lock itself into place, just like it would in space. The US space agency said that Tuesday’s event was a final test to ensure that the James Webb Space Telescope will survive its 1.6 million kilometre journey and is ready to discover the origins of the Universe. 

“The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it,” NASA wrote in its press release. 

‘A technological marvel’ 

As per the press note, Webb's primary mirror is made of 18 hexagonal segments coated with an ultra-thin layer of gold to improve its reflection of infrared light. The mirror will fly to space folded like a piece of origami artwork, which allows it to fit inside a five-meter rocket fairing, and will then use 132 individual actuators and motors to bend each mirror into a specific position. Together, the mirrors will function as one massive reflector in a bid to enable the telescope to peer deeper into the cosmos than ever before. 

Lee Feinberg, optical telescope element manager for Webb at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said, “The primary mirror is a technological marvel. The lightweight mirrors, coatings, actuators and mechanisms, electronics and thermal blankets when fully deployed form a single precise mirror that is truly remarkable”. 

Lee added, “This is not just the final deployment test sequence that the team has pulled off to prepare Webb for a life in space, but it means when we finish, that the primary mirror will be locked in place for launch. It’s humbling to think about the hundreds of dedicated people across the entire country who worked so hard to design and build the primary mirror, and now to know launch is so close”. 

The James Webb Space Telescope is an international programme led by NASA with its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. Scientists from 44 countries will be able to make use of the telescope, with proposals including using the infrared capabilities to penetrate the supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, including our own. Scientists believe that the discovery capability of Webb is limited only by our own imaginations and the telescope will take space agencies across the globe to places where they haven’t even dreamed of going before. 

IMAGE: NASA website