Quoted from BBC, Wednesday (11/24/2021), A US space agency statement said an “incident” occurred during preparation for launch that may have caused a sudden tremor in the observatory. As a result of the incident, NASA postponed the exact date for sending the telescope into orbit.
JWST is an advanced telescope successor to the $10 billion veteran Hubble telescope. This telescope has been designed to look deeper into the Universe than Hubble.
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Scientists also hope to use its more advanced capabilities to study the atmospheres of distant planets in the hope that signs of life can be detected. Webb is currently at the European Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
Engineers were in the process of attaching the telescope to its launch adapter when suddenly the safety clamp opened. The concern is that the event may have sent a mechanical shock through the telescope.
A US space agency statement read: “A NASA-led anomaly review board was immediately convened to investigate and perform additional testing to determine with certainty that the incident did not damage any components. NASA and its mission partners will provide an update when testing is complete by the end of this week.”
Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, director of science at NASA, said the sensors normally placed on the telescope during transport had been removed. “Just to watch out for a small number of subsystems and do a functional test to make sure that nothing happens when this energy goes into [teleskop], “he told reporters.
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The telescope is considered robust because it is designed to withstand the intense shock and noise when its Ariane rocket rises from the launch pad.
If the current investigation does not find any faults, Engineers will move forward by refueling the telescope, before hoisting it aboard the Ariane rocket about a week before launching it to the launch pad. JWST is a joint project between NASA and the European and Canadian space agencies.
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