The deployment step of the James Webb Space Telescope took place in space on December 30, 2021. The image is from NASA.
The sun shield has been unwrapped by the James Webb Space Telescope, which has taken another important item off of its deployment to-do list.
The telescope had the room to begin the preliminary steps to unfurl its gigantic sun shield after successfully extending its deployable tower assembly. The mission teams have completed two major next steps: releasing the sun shield's protective cover and installing the James Webb Space Telescope's aft momentum flap.
The sun shield must be unfurled by the next day or so. The mission team will spend a few days getting the five-layer structure to the proper tension, and wrap it up by Sunday.
The deployment phase of the observatory is expected to end in January.
You can follow along with the next steps in the deployment.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope mission is live.
The James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures.
The sun shield is a vital component that keeps the telescope's instruments at the correct temperature. The mission team had to fold the sun shield up because it was so large. It has to unfold now that he is in space.
"Just as a ship's mast must be set in position and the rigging established before the ship unfurls its sails, the pallet structures, momentum flap and mid-booms will soon all be in place for the silver sun shield to unfold," NASA said in a statement.
This NASA graphic shows the deployed configuration of the James Webb Space Telescope. The image is from NASA.
Today is after 9 a.m. According to the above statement from NASA, the "aft momentum flap" was deployed in about eight minutes. The flap helps keep the orientation of the plane.
The observatory will be able to conserve fuel by counteracting the potential sunlight nudging once the sun shield is deployed.
After the flap was deployed, the team released the protective cover that protects the sun shield. NASA said that the cover was released via electrical devices.
It is a huge and risky undertaking to deploy the sun shield. About 80% of the steps labeled "single point failures" take place during deployment, as mission experts have said.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared with Space.com that he was feeling "nervous" because of the deployment process, and that he was feeling "optimistic and confident" ahead of the launch.
It will take about 30 days from the launch date to reach L2, a point in space about a million miles from Earth.
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