Webb Space Telescope Begins Its Months-Long Mirror Alignment

The James Webb Space Telescope's 21.3-foot (6.5 meter) diameter primary mirror. (Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn)

Overall, the procedure will take roughly three months.

The James Webb Orbit Telescope is already seeking focus in space, just weeks after its launch.

Engineers are starting the process of aligning the newly unfolded 18-segment big golden mirror. NASA officials noted in a blog update on Wednesday that the work will eventually get these individual reflectors working as a single focusing device.

Engineers started the procedure by instructing 132 actuators to move and position the primary and secondary mirror pieces, merely to make sure everything worked as intended. The team also tested the actuators to confirm that Webb's fine steering mirror, which will be employed during the picture stabilization process, is working properly.

The observatory crew will labor for around ten days to dislodge the mirror segments from their launch alignments, with more precise work continuing after that.

The goal is to get all of Webb's elements to function together as a single space observatory, which will be critical for the telescope's lofty goal of learning more about the early cosmos and the lives of the things that make it up.

NASA expects that the alignment will take roughly three months in total, putting the work in mid-April if everything goes according to plan. Webb launched on Dec. 25 and, because to the precision of the launch, may have enough fuel for 20 years of science, but it depends entirely on the mirrors working well.

"Ground personnel have now begun ordering the primary and secondary mirror segments to move from their stowed-for-launch configuration, off of snubbers that kept them snug and secure from vibration," NASA stated. "These motions will take at least ten days, after which engineers can begin the three-month process of aligning the pieces so that they can function as a single mirror."

Webb is still en route to Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a "parking site" roughly 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometres) from Earth. On January 23, it will start an engine to glide toward that zone.

After around six months of commissioning procedures, the next-generation telescope will launch a series of early science missions this summer, ranging from exploring exoplanets to probing the origins of the universe.