The team behind NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will take a day off after unfolding the observatory's massive sunshield.
"Work on the deployment of Webb's sunshield mid-booms went late into the night yesterday," agency officials wrote in the update."Webb mission management decided this morning to pause deployment activities for today and allow the team to rest and prepare to begin Webb's sunshield tensioning."But launch wasn't the most nerve-wracking time for JWST.
The next step in that marathon is to separate the five membranes of the sunshield in a process that NASA calls"tensioning" and that is expected to take two days. Originally expected to begin today and conclude tomorrow, it will now begin tomorrow and conclude Monday , if all goes smoothly.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Skywatcher spots James Webb Space Telescope from Earth in telescope photosWatch as the most powerful space telescope ever built drifts ever farther from Earth.
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope uncovers massive sunshield in next step of risky deploymentThe James Webb Space Telescope has unwrapped its sunshield, crossing another important item off of its lengthy and risky deployment to-do list.
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope Has Enough Fuel For More Than 10 Years of MissionJames Webb Space Telescope, which was originally planned to last for 5 years, will now be able to last longer than ten years.
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope unfurls massive sunshield in major deployment milestoneThis was one of Webb's most nerve-wracking post-launch steps.
Read more »
A NASA Astrophysicist Explains Why The James Webb Space Telescope Looks Like a HoneycombHear it from a NASA scientists why the new James Web Space Telescope, which launched on Christmas day, looks so wonderfully weird.
Read more »
Webb telescope spends '29 days on the edge' as it comes to life in spaceLaunching to space was just the beginning for the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb is spending '29 days on the edge' while the observatory unfolds its massive sunshield and reaches a special point in orbit that is a million miles away from Earth.
Read more »