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Where did we come from? Are we alone? Webb looks for answers
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Cosmic telescope James Webb, the most advanced space observatory to date, was launched into space cosmic December 25, 2021. Shortly after the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency spaceport in French Guiana, the telescope began an extremely complicated unfolding process, starting with the antenna for communication with the Earth, thanks to which subsequent maneuvers were already commissioned by NASA engineers.
End of nerves. James Webb’s telescope unfolded in space
Now NASA has informed when the complete disassembly process is completed. The last one to unfold is the main mirror, consisting of a stationary central part and two side segments that had to be positioned with extreme precision. Such a construction was forced by the huge size of the mirror (6.5 meters in diameter) – without the possibility of folding it, the telescope would not fit on board any rocket.
The first side segment was unfolded on Friday, and the entire process took 5 and a half hours. The second was successfully carried out on Saturday. Means the fact that the most complicated part of the entire telescope’s preparation for operation was completed and proceeded without any difficulties.
More about the James Webb Space Telescope can be found at Gazeta.pl
It was an extremely nervous time for scientists, because there was a lot of time when unfolding the telescope stuff could go wrong. Just to unfold and tighten the extremely thin, but at the same time large sun visor was associated with a considerable risk. The entire device consists of over 300 elements whose failure (even one of them) could destroy two decades wash – over 10 billion was spent on the project dollars.
Webb still on its way to target orbit
However, we still have to wait a bit for the so-called the first light, i.e. the first observation after the equipment is ready for work. Webb is still traveling to its target orbit around the L2 libation point, which it will complete in the next two weeks. So far, the telescope has covered less than 76 percent. roads, or almost 1.1 million km, and there are still 350 thousand to the target orbit. km. Currently, the telescope is moving at a speed of 0.38 km / s.
It is probably only in about three weeks that the scientists will make the first observation to check the equipment and begin the calibration, which will last for the next several months. It is an extremely precise process consisting in the minimal movement of each of the 18 segments of the main mirror with the help of 126 independent actuators remotely controlled by NASA engineers. The agency plans to publish the first finished photo “this summer”.
The James Webb telescope is to allow humanity to open its eyes even wider and see the farthest objects that were not able to capture, for example, the Hubble telescope. One of the main goals will be to observe the first stars and galaxies that formed shortly after the Big Bang, which, according to the current state of knowledge, gave rise to the universe.
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