The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final configuration and is ready for operation today, which is due in about five months, the US space agency said.
The telescope’s 6.5-meter main mirror is too large to fit entirely in the rocket that launched James Webb, so it had to be folded in two, the second of which was opened this morning, he told NASA. …
Space agency teams continue to fix the mirror in yet another phase of the telescope’s installation, which also had a heat shield installed earlier this week.
Before starting work, the telescope will need to reach its final orbital position at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and all of its scientific instruments must cool down before calibration.
The most powerful space telescope of all time will have to observe the first galaxies, formed “just” 200 million years after the beginning of the universe.
The James Webb is flying from Baltimore, America, on the east coast of the United States, from where NASA today broadcast live images of the control room, where agency engineers enthusiastically applauded the announcement of the telescope.
