Webb Telescope Unfolds Secondary Mirror, Reaches Full Telescope Status
The James Webb Space Telescope successfully deploys its 2.4-foot secondary mirror, a critical step that makes the $10 billion observatory a fully functioning telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope successfully deploys its critical secondary mirror, marking a major milestone for the $10 billion mission. A motor-driven tripod unfolds as planned, moving the 2.4-foot-wide mirror into position to reflect collected starlight down to the observatory's scientific instruments.
This deployment is equally critical as the prior unfurling of the tennis court-size sunshield, as the mirror assembly must fold up to fit inside the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket. The 11-minute procedure goes off without a hitch, bringing immense relief to the mission operations team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
With this optical element in place, NASA Project Manager Bill Ochs announces that the observatory, currently located about 600,000 miles from Earth, officially functions as a telescope. The secondary mirror works in tandem with Webb's massive 21.3-foot primary mirror to capture and redirect light from the universe's earliest stars and galaxies.