Roughly a month before the official start of scientific operations, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope had to endure a dust-sized micrometeoroid hitting one of its primary mirror segments.
Engineers were aware that would happen. According to a NASA update, the telescope's massive mirror segments were designed to be able to survive such impacts, but this latest hit was too large for comfort.
It probably won't be the last time that debris crashes into the $10 billion space observatory.
It isn't over for the telescope for now.
The telescope is performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a slight effect in the data. The analysis and measurement are ongoing.
The space environment includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the Sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy, and occasional strikes by micrometeoroids.
The team had prepared for the particle to be smaller than it was.
It seems like it was the first impact on the next-gen observatory.
Since launch, we have had four smaller measurable micrometeoroid strikes that were consistent with expectations and this one more recently that is larger than our degradation predictions assumed.
The telescope's operations are affected by the impacts of meteorites. Engineers were able to cancel out some of the mirrors to make up for the damage done to the segment that was struck.
The International Space Station is similar to the team's dodge maneuver.
It sounds like contingencies are working. The strike draws attention to the dangers of space and the fact that the Webb's useful life may be shortened.
It was engineered to endure micrometeoroid impacts.
There is a new image of the neighboring star provided by james wbb.
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