{"id":19484,"date":"2022-03-17T12:00:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=19484"},"modified":"2022-03-17T12:04:17","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T12:04:17","slug":"nasa-reveals-the-james-webb-space-telescopes-expected-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/nasa-reveals-the-james-webb-space-telescopes-expected-success\/19484\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA reveals the James Webb Space Telescope\u2019s expected success"},"content":{"rendered":"
On 11 March 2022, the Webb telescope team completed the stage of alignment known as \u2018fine phasing.\u2019 At this key stage in the commissioning of Webb\u2019s\u00a0Optical Telescope Element,\u00a0every optical parameter that has been checked and tested is performing at, or above, expectations.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the team also discovered that there were no critical issues, no measurable contamination, and no blockages to Webb\u2019s optical path. Thus, the observatory is able to successfully gather light from distant objects and deliver it to its instruments without issue.<\/p>\n
Although there are months to go before Webb ultimately delivers its new view of the cosmos, and achieve the milestone it was set out to, the team is confident that Webb\u2019s first-of-its-kind optical system is working as well as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than 20 years ago, the Webb team set out to build the most powerful telescope that anyone has ever put in space and came up with an audacious optical design to meet demanding science goals,\u201d explained Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. \u201cToday we can say that design is going to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the largest ground-based telescopes on Earth use segmented primary mirrors. However, the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a> is the first telescope in space to employ such a design.<\/p>\n The 21-foot, 4-inch (6.5-metere) primary mirror \u2013 much too big to fit inside a rocket \u2013 is made up of 18 hexagonal and beryllium mirror segments. It had to be folded up for launch and then unfolded in space before each mirror was adjusted \u2013 to within nanometres \u2013 to form a single mirror surface.<\/p>\n