James webb space telescope sunshield12/19/2023 ![]() ![]() The observatory will study every phase of cosmic historyfrom within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. One of Webb’s unique design features is using passive cooling by a five-layer sunshield to reach the telescope’s operational temperatures of 45 Kelvin (-380 degrees Fahrenheit). The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. 4, 2022, engineers successfully completed the deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshield, seen here during its final deployment test on Earth in December 2020 at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. By keeping the telescope and instruments in permanent shadow, it allows them to cool to their design temperature of 40 kelvins (233 C 388 F). The planned timeline of these deployments is laid out here but could change as the operations team gets deeper into the schedule. The Webb telescope and science instruments are ready to enter the shade, never again to see direct sunlight. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) sunshield is a passive thermal control system deployed post-launch to shield the telescope and instrumentation from the light and heat of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The unfolding of the pallets marks the beginning of Webb’s major structural deployments and also the beginning of the sunshield deployment phase – which will continue through at least this Sunday, Jan. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. These include closely monitoring structural temperatures, maneuvering the observatory with respect to the sun to provide optimal temperatures, turning on heaters to warm key components, activating release mechanisms, configuring electronics and software, and ultimately latching the pallets into place. While the actual motion to lower the forward pallet from its stowed to its deployed position took only 20 minutes, and the lowering of the aft pallet took only 18 minutes, the overall process took several hours for each because of the dozens of additional steps required. The team then moved on to the aft pallet deployment, completing the process at approximately 7:27 p.m. The James Webb Space Telescope will give a glimpse of the earliest galaxies formed after the Big Bang but only if the telescope is kept frigid. The team began working through the deployment of the forward pallet this morning, concluding at approximately 1:21 p.m. Webb is beginning to resemble the form it will take when it is fully deployed – now that the mission operations team has successfully deployed and latched into place the observatory’s forward and aft Unitized Pallet Structures. ![]()
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