The telescope of James Webb, which became the scientific successor of the Hubble Space Telescope, took an important step, bringing its readiness to launch. Engineers successfully deployed the telescope's sunscreen this week. In tests that took place earlier this month with a space telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, officials were happy to see a smoothly unfolding diaphragm, although they had to pull it in order to deploy.
This is the second successful test that bodes well for a telescope, but this is only one step in the long road at NASA, where the device is waiting for a trip around the Sun.
This week or at the start of the next flight, the backplane will be shipped from Northrop Grumman, California to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Mirrors and tools will be added by the beginning of 2016, and then testing will begin in the new assembly, said Jonathan Arenberg, chief engineer for Northrop Grumman (NASA's leading industrial partner for the telescope.) After that, the next flight to Houston will be at the Johnson Space Center at the end of 2016, to work in an airless chamber, and add all the “little things” that provide the functionality of its telescope: electronics, tanks, engines, and the like.
By the beginning of 2017, James Webb will be ready to pass his last tests before starting in October 2018 aboard the Ariane 5 rocket in French Guiana.
But engineers are more reverent about the James Webb telescope than just the test unit, which was underlined by the high expectations of engineers when the telescope is in space.
"In principle, we will carry out additional tests to make sure that our design has an adequate margin of safety," said Arenberg.
The Hubble Telescope has been in Earth orbit for more than two decades and made some amazing photographs of the universe. Its service life has long expired, but its operators expressed confidence that it will last at least until 2020. During its time in orbit, Hubble helped answer some of the most difficult and intriguing questions about planets, stars, and the universe. The telescope of James Webb is ready to teach us more.
Webb to go into orbit to understand more about the origin of the universe: When was the universe transparent enough to see the light? How are galaxies formed? Are there other solar systems that have planets like our Earth, and how did they get together? But it will take six months to assemble a telescope, ready for its ultimate mission, aimed at studying the universe.
The device will spend the whole month to reach a stable gravitational point. The telescope will turn around and engineers will wait until it cools down so that the equipment can transmit the necessary information without interference. No less important is the task of making up a single integrated system from 18 mirrors. Arenberg said that if everything happens in accordance with the plan, the device will be ready by March or April 2019.
