NASA’s new powerful space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, was attacked by a larger-than-expected micrometeoroid in late May, causing some detectable damage to one of the spacecraft’s 18 primary mirror segments. The impact means the mission team will have to correct the distortion created by the attack, but NASA says the telescope “still operates at a level that exceeds all mission requirements.”
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, is the agency’s incredibly powerful next-generation space telescope, designed to look into the farthest reaches of the universe and look back in time at stars and galaxies. they formed just after the Big Bang. The construction cost NASA nearly $ 10 billion and more than two decades to complete. But on Christmas Day 2021, the telescope finally launched into space, where it underwent an extremely complex deployment process before reaching its final destination approximately 1 million miles from Earth.
NASA expected JWST to be hit by tiny space particles
Since its launch, JWST has been affected by at least four different micrometeoroids, according to a NASA blog post, but they were all small and the size of what NASA hoped the observatory would find. A micrometeoroid is usually a small fragment of an asteroid, usually smaller than a grain of sand. What came to JWST in May, however, was larger than what the agency had prepared, although the agency did not specify its exact size. NASA admits that the strike, which took place between May 23 and 25, has caused a “marginally detectable effect on the data” and that engineers continue to analyze the effects of the impact.
NASA expected JWST to be hit by tiny space particles during its lifetime; Fast-moving space rock spots are just an inescapable feature of the deep-space environment. In fact, NASA designed the gold-plated telescope mirrors to withstand the blows of small space debris over time. The space agency also conducted a combination of simulations and ground tests with mirror samples to determine how best to reinforce the mirrors to withstand micrometeoroid impacts. However, NASA says the models they used for these simulations did not have such a large micrometeoroid and that it was “beyond what the team could have tested in the field.”
Still, that’s not a total surprise. “We always knew that Webb would have to withstand the space environment, which includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the Sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy, and occasional micrometeoroid shocks within our solar system,” said Paul Geithner. technician. The deputy director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center project said in a statement.
JWST’s main mirror on Earth test Image: NASA
Engineers also have the ability to maneuver the JWST mirror and instruments away from the rain of space debris, if NASA sees them coming. The problem, however, was that this micrometeoroid was not part of a shower, so NASA considers it an “inevitable accidental event.” However, the agency is forming an engineering team to find ways to avoid or potentially reduce the effects of micrometeoroid shocks of this size. And because JWST is so sensitive, the telescope will also help NASA better understand how many micrometeoroids there are around deep space.
Despite the strike, NASA remained optimistic in its publication about the future of JWST. “Webb’s early life performance is still well above expectations, and the observatory is fully capable of performing the science for which it was designed,” according to the blog. Engineers can also adjust the impacted mirror to help cancel data distortion. The mission team has already done so and will continue to play with the mirror over time to get the best results. It is a process that will continue for the five to ten years of life provided by JWST as new observations are made and events unfold. At the same time, NASA warns that engineers will not be able to completely cancel the impact of the strike.
The telescope is itself in space
NASA engineers had to build JWST to be incredibly robust, as the telescope is in space. Unlike its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, which is currently orbiting the Earth, JWST was not designed to be useful. This means that if something important breaks in the spacecraft, engineers will have to solve problems to solve it from the ground. There is currently no ability to send humans or a robotic spacecraft to set up JWST. This means that JWST will have to live with its mirror slightly damaged until the end of its mission, and NASA expects the spacecraft to be hit by even more debris over time.
Meanwhile, the strike does not appear to affect the JWST schedule. In fact, the news of this micrometeoroid arrives just a month before a major milestone for the mission. After spending the last few months fine-tuning JWST instruments and delicately aligning the spacecraft’s mirrors, the mission team will present the first full-color images of JWST on July 12th. NASA will not say what the images will be, but they should be spectacular.