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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Martin Barstow, Professor of Astrophysics and Space Science, University of Leicester If everything goes according to plan, we will soon enter a new era of astronomy. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and … Read more
To celebrate the new year, consider taking a day to rest. That’s what the team managing the complicated process of deploying the James Webb Space Telescope are doing, taking Saturday (Jan. 1) off. Work will resume on Sunday (Jan. 2), according to an agency update. The pause comes after a long day on Friday (Dec. … Read more
One of the James Webb Space Telescope’s most nail-biting deployment steps is safely in the books. The $10 billion observatory unfurled its huge sunshield on Friday (Dec. 31), carefully unfolding the five-layer structure by sequentially deploying two booms. “Shine bright like a diamond. With the successful deployment of our right sunshield mid-boom, or ‘arm,’ Webb’s … Read more
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is three days into the deployment of its massive sunshield — and it still has about three days to go. The $10 billion Webb launched on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) to seek out heat signals from the early universe. To pick up these faint signals, the observatory’s optics and instruments must … Read more
After a detailed analysis of where the James Webb Space Telescope is now (29 December 2021) and how it got there, NASA determined the observatory should have enough propellant to operate in space for significantly more than 10 years in space. Webb’s mission lifetime was designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and mission … Read more
This short movie of the James Webb Space Telescope moving through space was captured by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project on Dec. 29, 2021. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project) Thanks to images from a robotic Earth telescope, you can now watch NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope travel through the final frontier. … Read more
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope removes the covers from its sunshield in this animation of the critical deployment step that occurred in space on Dec. 30, 2021. (Image credit: NASA) The James Webb Space Telescope has unwrapped its sunshield, crossing another important item off of its lengthy and risky deployment to-do list. After successfully extending … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope is one step closer to finishing the deployment of its massive sunshield. On Wednesday (Dec. 29), the huge new space observatory successfully extended its deployable tower assembly (DTA), a 48-inch-long (1.2 meters) shaft that connects the telescope’s two halves, NASA officials said in a statement. The James Webb Space Telescope‘s … Read more
NASA’s newest flagship space observatory should have enough fuel to more than double its minimum mission life peering into the history of the universe, according to an agency update. The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope, a collaboration with the Canadian and European space agencies led by NASA, launched into space Saturday (Dec. 25) on an … Read more
NASA’s new $10 billion observatory is completing a nerve-wracking sequence of steps to reach its final configuration and location. The James Webb Space Telescope‘s “29 days on the edge,” as NASA has dubbed the lengthy and complex deployment process, began when the spacecraft launched on Saturday (Dec. 25). Since then, the observatory has reached key … Read more