NASA nails trickiest job on newly launched space telescope
ABC News
NASA has aced the most complicated, critical job on its newly launched space telescope: unrolling and stretching a sunshade the size of a tennis court
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA aced the most complicated, critical job on its newly launched space telescope Tuesday: unrolling and stretching a sunshade the size of a tennis court.
Ground controllers cheered and bumped fists once the fifth and final layer of the sunshield was tightly secured. It took just 1 1/2 days to tighten the ultra-thin layers using motor-driven cables, half the expected time.
The 7-ton James Webb Space Telescope is so big that the sunshield and the primary gold-plated mirror had to be folded for launch. The sunshield is especially unwieldly — it spans 70 feet by 46 feet (21 meters by 14 meters) to keep all the infrared, heat-sensing science instruments in constant subzero shadow.
The mirrors are next up for release this weekend.