NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was hit by a micrometeroid that damaged one of … [+] The 18 beryllium-gold segments that make up its main 6.5-meter mirror.
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was hit by a micrometeroid that damaged one of the 18 beryllium-gold segments that make up its main 6.5-meter mirror.
This happened between May 23 and 25, according to NASA, and the result was “insignificant detectable effect in the data.” Its C3 segment is thought to have been affected by small dust particles.
Is it serious? Apparently not – despite the impact that kills the telescope slightly from alignment. The Web “has recently had an impact on a major mirror segment,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator at NASA’s Scientific Missions Directorate, in a tweet. “After initial assessments, the team found that the telescope was still operating at a level that exceeded all mission requirements.
He added that the impact of micrometeoroids is an inevitable aspect of space work.
Webb, a $ 10 billion space telescope that sees in the infrared part of the spectrum, launches at Christmas 2021 and orbits the L2 point in February, about a million miles / 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. His first light images are due to be published on July 12. They are expected to be a dazzling demonstration of what the world’s most modern space observatory is capable of.
Analyzes and measurements are ongoing, NASA said, but it does not appear that these initial images – or the scientific program that will follow – will be severely affected. This is because engineers have been able to adjust its 18 mirrors to correct the damaged segment.
“We’ve always known that the Web will have to withstand a space environment that includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy and accidental micrometeroid impacts in our solar system,” said Paul Geithner, deputy technical director. of the project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We designed and built Webb with a margin of productivity – optical, thermal, electrical, mechanical – to ensure that it can fulfill its ambitious scientific mission even after many years in space.
This includes dust-sized particles flying at extreme speeds, although this impact was greater than that modeled on the Webb, NASA said. However, it is added that Webb’s initial performance is still well above expectations.
This is not the first time the Web has been hit. “Since launch, we’ve had four smaller measurable micrometeorological shocks that met expectations, and more recently than our predictions of degradation,” said Lee Feinberg, NASA’s Webb Telescope Elements Manager. “We will use this flight data to update our performance analysis over time and also to develop operational approaches to ensure that we maximize Webb image performance to the best possible level for many years to come.”
Although the recent impact is classified as an “inevitable accident”, Webb engineers are able to maneuver it to protect the optics from known meteor showers.
I wish you clear skies and open eyes.
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