Two new telescope devices by James Webb, added in 2017, can be seen in the photo. In October, solar glass was installed for the first time, and in November, optical and scientific instruments passed cryogenic testing.
The telescope James Webb - NASA Infrared Space Observatory, which is planned to launch in 2019. By the end of 2017, engineers are showing off new achievements.
In early December, optical elements and scientific instruments from Chamber A successfully passed cryogenic tests. During the testing period, scientists set a series of tasks aimed at testing the normal functionality of the device in an extremely frosty airless environment.
The main mirror is represented by 18 beryllium segments, each of which is covered with a small amount of gold. For this purpose, the process of vacuum deposition from the vapor phase was used, where a small amount of precious metal evaporates and is deposited on each segment inside the vacuum chamber.
In October, completed the installation of a sun glass. It was specially stretched to full deployment to test the capabilities.
The sun glass looks silvery, but in reality each layer is coated with reflective aluminum. The glass is represented by sheets of special plastic, which preserves integrity under extreme temperature conditions. The thickness of each layer is 1/1000 inch.
Last year
These latest achievements are made in 2017. In March, optical instruments passed an acoustic and vibration test at the Goddard Space Flight Center, and then went on a cryogenic test.
In October 2017, engineers first installed a James Webb telescope solar glass
It was a key year for the telescope. All tests were successful, so in 2018 the construction will receive the last details and form a ready-made observatory. The scientific world awaits the launch of James Webb, because it is a new generation telescope. Great hopes are placed on it, because with its power one can solve the secrets of our system, glance beyond the boundaries of distant worlds and penetrate the Universe much deeper.
