Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deploys its massive sunshield

It's a major milestone, but it's still not ready for action just yet.

Fermin Koop by Fermin Koop
January 5, 2022
in News, Science, Space, Telescopes

It took a few more days than expected but the enormous 21-meter (70-foot) sunshield of the James Webb Space Telescope has now been deployed, an important milestone that brings the telescope closer and closer to becoming operational. NASA team members clapped and cheered as they followed the process, but there’s still a bit left to go before the telescope can commence operations.

The sunshield is tested back on Earth in 2020. Image credit: NASA.

The telescope, which cost $10 billion and was launched on Christmas Day, is the most powerful ever sent to space, with a mirror six times bigger than the one included in the Hubble. It has been carefully unfolding in zero gravity for days. While all the required setup steps are tricky, setting up the sunshield was considered the most difficult part.

It was a big moment for the engineering teams at NASA and the American aerospace manufacturer Northrop Grumman, the main contractor for the telescope. Years of testing on sub-scale and full-scale models paid off as controllers separated the five layers of the sunshield and tensioned them – all controlled remotely from Earth. 

“This is the first time anyone has ever attempted to put a telescope this large into space,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement. The success of its most challenging deployment – the sunshield – is an incredible testament to the human ingenuity and engineering skill.”

The very important sunshield

The sunshield will safeguard the telescope from the heat and the light of the Earth, Sun, and Moon. The five plastic layers are as thin as a human hair and are coated with reflective metal. Together, they reduce exposure from the Sun from 200 kilowatts to a fraction of a watt – crucial to keep the scientific instruments cold enough to work. 

The team at NASA had delayed the sunshield deployment and tensioning to make sure Webb’s power systems were good to go. The task meant using 139 of the 178 release mechanisms included in the telescope, as well as eight deployment motors, 400 pulleys, and 90 cables. Any mistakes at this part could have doomed the telescope. 

“Unfolding Webb’s sunshield in space is an incredible milestone, crucial to the success of the mission,” Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA, said in a statement. “Thousands of parts had to work with precision for this marvel of engineering to fully unfurl. The team has accomplished an audacious feat with the complexity of this deployment.”

While it all went smoothly, several steps still remain for the telescope to become operational – including the deployment of the telescope’s main and secondary mirrors. This would start this weekend and last for 10 days. It’s the biggest mirror NASA has ever built, so big that engineers had to design the Webb as moving parts that can fold in the rocket.

The telescope is now on its way to its job site, a million miles from Earth, where it will sit in a solar orbit and be held stable by the gravitational pull of the Sun and the Earth. Once fully operational, the telescopes will look at all aspects of cosmic history. Thanks to its infrared observations, it can look deeper into the universe and even look back in time, enabling us an unprecedented view into the very depths of the universe.

Was this helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Related posts:
  1. NASA delays tensioning of James Webb telescope sunshield
  2. James Webb Telescope finishes unfolding its mirror in space
  3. Will NASA rename the James Webb Space Telescope? The ‘Lavender Scare’ controversy explained
  4. The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to do science – and it’s seeing the universe more clearly than even its own engineers hoped for
  5. James Webb Space Telescope highlights Uranus’s mysterious rings
Tags: James Webb Space Telescope

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW