The The James Web Space Telescope successfully completed the last phase of its deployment this Saturday with its main mirror., And it is already in its final stages, with five more months to explore its universe, NASA said.
“The final unit is now in use,” the US space agency (NASA) said on Twitter, adding that the team would now “work several hours to protect the wings”.
The main glass of the telescope is 6.5 meters in diameter. Because James Webb was too large to fit into the nose of the rocket in its functional lift-off structure. It was folded and carried on both sides.
The first of these two units was used on Friday and the second opened as planned this morning, although NASA acknowledges that deployment is a complex and challenging task.
The most powerful space telescope ever built and Hubble’s successor, the Web, will depart from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket on December 25 and head toward its orbital point 1.5 million kilometers away.
Its infrared technology allows viewing the first stars and galaxies formed 13.5 billion years ago, which seeks to give astronomers a new perspective on the early days of the universe, AFP reports.
“Before we celebrate, we still have work to do,” NASA said in a direct update. “When the final latch is secure, the web will fully expand into space,” he said.
Earlier this week, the telescope unfolded its five-layer sunscreen, a 21-meter-long comet-shaped instrument that acts like an umbrella, its job is to ensure that heat instruments are in the shade so they can detect dim infrared signals. The distances of the universe.