The largest telescope ever created by NASA is ready to be tested. The massive component which was developed will be part of the James Webb Telescope. The telescope has been under development for 20 years. Now, astronomers are eager to test it. Charles Bolden, NASA’s Administrator, has discussed for the first time the achievement and details about the James Webb mission.
- The developmental process of the largest telescope in the world is finished.
- Until 2018, it will undergo a lot of preflight testing.
The largest telescope was assembled by technicians at Goddard Space Flight Center. The launch was scheduled for 2018. Until then, the telescope will undergo a lot of preflight testing. John Mather, who is a senior project scientist in charge of the James Webb Space Telescope, has argued that the entire team has celebrated the end of the telescope’s developmental process.
The first thing they will need to do is to test it. The largest telescope in the world was designed using the best and most accurate technology, being gifted with incredible features that will allow it to carefully analyze the galaxies which occurred after the Big Bang. Scientists are excited to know that they can rely on such an intelligent machine, able to provide information after looking deep into space,
To achieve all these goals that were set, the telescope will use infrared light to observe the universe. The infrared beam will be collected by a range of 18 hexagonal mirrors. These unique mirrors are coated with a highly thin layer of gold, being composed out of beryllium. When the launch is set, these mirrors will be folded up.
They will only unroll when the telescope already floats into cosmos, during a two-weeks time span. The most significant attribution of NASA’s officials is to be sure of the telescope’s skills. It is crucial for the mission to be able to accomplish the purpose. Fulfilling the job will be ideal, prevailing all the necessary information for the crew to analyze.
After the technicians had managed to assemble the mirrors, they had conducted a pre-test for the optics of the mirror. Shortly, these mirrors will undergo tests related to acoustic and vibration. The purpose of it is to replicate the experiences with the outer space environment. If the largest telescope ever designed will pass all tests, it will be sent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for cryogenic testing. This type of analysis is bound to observe the effects of the cold temperatures upon the telescope.
Image courtesy of: wikipedia
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