James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Installation Completed

Construction of a new space telescope has been underway for a long time now. The new telescope is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and its first primary mirror was installed back in November of 2015. On February 3, the 18th and final primary mirror segment was installed in the telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch in 2018 and will cost $8.8 billion when complete. The mirrors are nearly perfect and are designed to focus light from the cosmos and unveil previously hidden planetary atmospheres, star forming regions, and more.

The telescope is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and has a much larger light collecting surface. The primary mirror with all 18 segments installed is 21.3 feet wide. The Hubble telescope primary mirror is 7.9 feet wide.

Each of the hexagonal mirror segments in the Webb primary mirror is the size of a coffee table and weighs 88 pounds. The JWST will capture images using infrared wavelengths. Those wavelengths are able to penetrate dust clouds, the telescope will also be used to look for signs of life in the atmospheres of planets in the galaxy. After the massive mirror array is installed, the aft-optics and secondary mirror will be installed.

SOURCE: Space.com