WASHINGTON: A mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope was hit by a micrometeroid last month, but is expected to continue to function normally, NASA said Thursday.
“After initial assessments, the team found that the telescope was still operating at a level that exceeded all mission requirements, despite a negligible effect in the data,” the US space agency said.
“Webb’s early life efficiency is still well above expectations and the observatory is fully capable of carrying out the science for which it was designed,” he added.
One of the main mirror segments of the space observatory was hit by a micrometeoroid, which is usually smaller than a grain of sand between May 23 and 25.
The telescope, which is expected to cost NASA nearly $ 10 billion, is one of the most expensive scientific platforms ever created, comparable to its predecessor Hubble and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Published in Dawn, June 10, 2022
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