The James Webb Space Telescope is traveling through space on its way to its final destination around the sun. NASA will broadcast live coverage of tomorrow's event in which the telescope tensions its sun shield. What to expect from this and how to watch it at home are the details we have.
What to expect from the deployment of the sun shield.
The sun shield of the James Webb Space Telescope is being tested. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has Chris Gunn there.
The process of getting the telescope from its launch configuration to its full deployment is a complex one. The deployment of a five-layer sun shield is one of the most delicate parts of the operation.
Over the past week, parts of the sun shield support structure have been put in place, including the extension of the two mid-booms which stretched the sun shield across its full 47 foot width.
The sun shield needs to be tensioned. Each of the five layers will be stretched into its final shape, held taut with a space between each layer to allow heat to escape. This begins with the largest layer, which is the one closest to the sun, and works by using a total of 90 cables that are attached to various pulleys to pull the shield into place.
The deployment is expected to take at least two days.
How to watch the deployment of the sun shield.
The coverage of the sun shield deployment will begin on January 2. The time is 11 a.m. The time is at the moment. NASA TV will show live broadcast coverage of the tensioning process, and once this is complete, there will be a briefing with more information about the deployment process.
You can either watch the broadcast on NASA's website or use the video player embedded at the top of the page.
There will be more coverage of the deployment processes next week. On Tuesday, January 4 and Friday, January 7 there will be live coverage of the deployment of the secondary mirror support structure. The exact time for these broadcasts has not been confirmed, but you can keep an eye on the James Webb Space Telescope's website for more information as it becomes available.
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