CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. NASA’s new space telescope unveiled its massive, gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror on Saturday, completing the observatory’s dramatic unfolding.
The final section of the 21-foot mirror swung into place at the command of flight controllers, completing the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope.
“I’m overcome with emotion.” What an incredible achievement. “We see that beautiful pattern in the sky now,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s science missions chief.
The $10 billion Webb Space Telescope, which will be more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, will scan the cosmos for light streaming from the first stars and galaxies formed 13.7 billion years ago. To do so, NASA had to outfit Webb with the largest and most sensitive mirror ever launched — its “golden eye,” as scientists refer to it.
Webb is so large that it had to be folded orgami-style in order to fit in the rocket that took off from South America two weeks ago. The most dangerous operation occurred earlier this week, when the tennis court-sized sunshield unfurled, providing subzero shade for the mirror and infrared detectors.
Flight controllers in Baltimore began unfolding the primary mirror on Friday, like a drop-leaf table. Saturday’s mood was even more upbeat, with upbeat music filling the control room as the right side was snapped into place. After applauding, the controllers returned to work, latching everything down. When the operation was finally completed 2 1/2 hours later, they jumped to their feet, exchanged high-fives, and cheered from behind masks, doing their best to remain socially distant due to the global surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We have a deployed telescope on orbit, a magnificent telescope the world has never seen,” Zurbuchen said, congratulating the team. “How does it feel to be a part of history, everybody?” You’ve just done it.”
His European Space Agency counterpart, astronomer Antonella Nota, remarked that after years of planning, the team made everything appear “so amazingly easy.”
“This is the moment we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” she said.
Webb’s main mirror is made of beryllium, a lightweight metal that is also strong and resistant to cold temperatures. Each of its 18 segments is coated with a thin layer of gold that is highly reflective of infrared light. The hexagonal, coffee table-size segments will need to be adjusted in the coming weeks so that they can focus as one on stars, galaxies, and alien worlds that may have atmospheric signs of life.
“It’s like we have 18 mirrors right now that are all doing their own thing, singing their own tune in whatever key they’re in, and we have to make them work like a chorus, which is a methodical, laborious process,” operations project scientist Jane Rigby told reporters.
Webb should arrive at its destination one million miles away in two weeks; it has already travelled more than 667,000 miles since its Christmas Day launch. If everything goes as planned, science observations will begin this summer. Astronomers hope to look back in time to within 100 million years of the Big Bang, which created the universe.
Despite the unprecedented success of the last two weeks, project manager Bill Ochs stressed that the team is not relaxing its guard.
“It doesn’t get any easier from here.” “Everything is on a level playing field,” he said.
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