The James Webb Space Telescope released its first full-color images this week, peering deeper into the universe than ever before.
But what did it take to get there?
Learn how engineers built the most complex machine ever launched into space🧵
pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vide
July 14, 2022
How NASA built the most ambitious telescope of all time
The inside story of how scientists and engineers built the James Webb Space Telescope, the most complex machine ever launched into space.
Photo via @novapbsHow NASA built the most ambitious telescope of all time
. weighs 7 tons and features a 21-foot mirror with a sunshield the size of a tennis court.
Because of its size, scientists had to build it to fold up inside the nose cone of the rocket, then unfold in space. It’s known as an “origami” telescope. youtu.be/hF-7eKtzAHM?t=0
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The telescope has 344 single points of failure–pins that have to release, latches that must lock into place, etc, to deploy successfully.
“Each of those things has to work. If they don’t, everything breaks behind it,” says astronomer .
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The gold-coated mirrors also have to stay immaculately clean.
“A small piece of tape fell on to one of the mirrors and we had to fly someone out from that specific company to remove the tape with a pair of tweezers,” says senior engineer .
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Once the telescope unfolded in space, scientists ran a test to make sure it was working. It was a moment of truth after decades of hard work and billions of dollars.
See how they aligned the mirrors to capture the first test image of a star:
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I'm so glad they caputred our reactions as we were working on the first images and data.
It was definitely the most exciting project I've ever worked on.
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This team has been working together since early June to prepare the @NASAWebb images released today. We joined them for a working session to see what it was like.
Watch their reactions as they see some of the images for the first time. #UnfoldtheUniverse
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