(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 10 - The primary mirror of the James Webb space telescope has been opened: the two wings of 6.5 meters in diameter have been perfectly aligned, completing the last of the crucial phases of putting this powerful instrument into orbit, the result of the collaboration of NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) which promises to revolutionize our astronomical knowledge.
After the unfolding of the complex solar shield, 5 very thin sheets the size of a tennis court and essential to protect the instruments from the heat of the Sun, the opening of the primary mirror was one of the most critical phases of intermission. Given the impossibility of being able to carry a 6.5-meter-diameter mirror on a rocket, the developers of the telescope had chosen to fold it into 3 sections that had to be aligned in a complex operation in orbit. The procedure kept everyone in suspense but completed perfectly: "Even if the journey is not yet complete, I join the Webb team to breathe a little more easily and imagine future discoveries that will inspire the world," he said in a statement. NASA administrator Bill Nelson. "The deployment of the Webb telescope was complex but also an impressive engineering masterpiece, "commented ESA CEO Josef Aschbacher.
Now the telescope will test all 18 hexagonal elements that make up the mirror to align them perfectly and will proceed with a new ignition of the engines for a programmed course correction that will bring the observatory into final orbit, in the so-called Langrangian point L2 at 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
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