The James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its tennis-court sized sunshield Tuesday, a critical milestone for the success of its mission to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said.
"All five layers of the sunshield are fully tensioned," said an announcer at the observatory's control center in Baltimore, where team members cheered,The 70-foot long, kite-shaped apparatus acts like a parasol, ensuring Webb's instruments are kept in the shade so they can detect faint infrared signals from the far reaches of the Universe.
"This is the first time anyone has ever attempted to put a telescope this large into space," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate,"The success of its most challenging deployment – the sunshield – is an incredible testament to the human ingenuity and engineering skill that will enable Webb to accomplish its science goals.
Visible and ultraviolet light emitted by the very first luminous objects has been stretched by the Universe's expansion, and arrives today in the form of infrared, which Webb is equipped to detect with unprecedented clarity.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
NASA presses ahead with Webb space telescope sunshield deploymentIt's a major milestone in the James Webb Space Telescope's initial activation.
Lire la suite »
To Study the Next Earth, NASA May Need to Throw Some ShadeThe agency wants to hunt exoplanets, so it’s designing star shades and coronagraphs that block out starlight and give telescopes a clear view.
Lire la suite »
NASA Scientists Confirm Earth Dating The MoonWASHINGTON—Following years of speculation by the world’s foremost astronomers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed Monday that the Earth is dating the Moon. “The two have been seen together regularly for the past 4.5 billion years, and we have now learned that Earth and its Moon are indeed in a…
Lire la suite »
NASA estimates metrics of exploding meteor that shook ground | AP NewsPITTSBURGH (AP) — A meteor that caused an earthshaking boom over suburban Pittsburgh on New Year’s Day exploded in the atmosphere with an energy blast equivalent to an estimated 30 tons (27,216 kilograms) of TNT, officials said.
Lire la suite »
Boom that shook Pittsburgh was an exploding half-ton meteor, NASA saysA meteor that caused a loud boom heard in western Pennsylvania on New Year's Day exploded in the atmosphere with a blast equivalent to 30 tons of TNT, NASA said on Monday
Lire la suite »
Why Has NASA Stopped Exploring The Oceans? | Hacker Noon'Why Has NASA Stopped Exploring The Oceans?' by slackblogging slogging slackblogging
Lire la suite »