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The sun shield is being tested on the ground before its launch.
Alex Evers is a person.
The sun shield is a critical feature of the James Webb Space Telescope that will keep its instruments cold during its mission. The unfurling of the sun shield marks the end of the most complicated deployment the observatory must pull off in order to function properly.
The project manager for the mission team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said that this was a big moment. I would like to wish the entire team well. We still have a lot of work to do, but getting the sun shield out and deployed is really, really big.
NASA launched its new space observatory on December 25th after 25 years of development. The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST promises to provide even more power and an enhanced capability to see distant, faint objects in our Universe. The first stars and galaxies formed just a few hundred million years after the Big bang, and Astronomers hope to see some of them with the help of the JWST.
In order to observe the ancient Universe, a complex unfolding process has to be followed. The telescope was too large to launch to space in its final configuration, so mission designers designed it to unfold after launch. The deployment relies on hundreds of mechanisms and moving parts, and everything has to go right in order for it to function. Along the way, there are up to 343 single-point failures that could jeopardize the entire mission.
The end of a deployment.
The sun shield deployment is part of the unfolding process. The invisible light that is associated with heat is called the IR light. The telescope needs to remain extremely cold in order to function. The sun shield is made of five thin reflective layers of Kapton and is designed to prevent the Sun's heat from cooking the telescope.
The deployment of the sun shield was a complex event that required the layers to remain intact. Each release mechanism had to work as planned in order for the sun shield to open up. The layers had to be drawn taut, like sails on a sailboat, after they unfurled.
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An artistic rendering of the space station.
The image is from NASA GSFC/ CIL.
The sun shield deployment took a bit longer than expected. The process was supposed to take about six days, but the team took a break over the New Year weekend to get some rest. Unexpected temperature readings and equipment issues were some of the problems they had to work on along the way. During a press conference the day before deployment ended, Ochs said that they were still in the getting-to-know-you phase. Orbital satellites are a little bit different on the ground.
We are still in the early stages with the telescope.
The first problem was with the solar array, which generated power from the Sun that the telescope needs in order to function. The solar array had a preset of power output that was limiting, but they were able to adjust the array based on space temperatures. The problem was fixed, and the JWST is getting enough power to function. The motors used to release the sun shield were the other issue. The observatory was reoriented to reduce the sunlight hitting them because they were running a little hotter than expected. That helped to keep the motors cool.
Some of the most nail-biting moments of the deployment are over. Between 70 to 75 percent of single-point failures have been completed by NASA. During the press conference, Ochs said that it was huge within the first week and a half of the mission being in operation.
There are more to come for the telescope. The main tool the observatory will use to collect light from distant galaxies and stars is still being deployed. The crucial event is set to happen in a few days, and like all the previous ones, it needs to execute perfectly in order to fulfill its job.
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