Assembling a Space Mirror
- By Maggie Masetti
- December 10, 2015
- Comments Off on Assembling a Space Mirror
I have been remiss in not blogging about this sooner – but it’s been incredibly busy around here at “JWST Central.” That is to say, we’ve been hard at work, here at NASA Goddard putting together the actual James Webb Space Telescope.
Back in August, we had the giant telescope structure delivered in a big white packing case from Northrop Grumman. It had journeyed to Goddard via truck and C-5 airplane.
Image credit: NASA Goddard/Chris Gunn
Pretty impressive, no? I’m actually in the below shot, in the blue shirt, right behind it. I did a lot of hanging out over there while all this excitement was going on.
Hi Mom! Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
It was pretty amazing to see this thing upright and close to the window. You really got a sense of its scale. It’s huge. Here the back of the structure is facing us and you can see the latticed box that the instrument module will go inside of. The mirrors go on the other side. Here the side “wings” are folded back (as they will be for launch), and the secondary mirror boom is also all folded up.
I had to take a panorama to fit the whole thing in one shot! Credit: Maggie Masetti
Here’s one more to prove I was there. ;-)
Not a selfie! Credit: Maggie Masetti
Next came deployments of each wing, both of which I was lucky enough to catch:
When the time came to move the whole thing to the big assembly structure in the cleanroom, it was with both wings deployed.
Here’s a view from the “Webbcam,” of the telescope structure, wings deployed. (Yes, we have a “Webbcam” – where you can watch what is going on in the cleanroom! Check it out here.)
JWST Webbcam view. Credit: NASA
JWST Webbcam view. Credit: NASA
And then the lift to the assembly stand.
JWST WebbCam, Credit: NASA
Credit: Maggie Masetti
Credit: Maggie Masetti
And from the Webbcam:
JWST Webbcam, Credit: NASA
Pretty soon the first flight mirror segment was mounted onto the robotic arm and prepped for installation.
Here’s a little trailer our videographer Mike McClare made, which I think helps to convey the excitement we all felt about beginning this process:
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Then the mirror was installed! Each mirror has a protective cover on it – but those covers don’t actually touch the surface of the mirror. Also you’ll notice there are silver things on the sides of the mirror – those are used in conjunction with lasers to precisely lay the segments on the telescope structure.
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
A feature on the first installation:
As of this writing, four of JWST’s primary mirror segments have been successfully installed and they are working on installing the fifth.
Credit: NASA
You can stay up to date on the latest developments by following JWST on social media. We’re using #MirrorSeason for updates on mirror installation and on the scoreboard. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
