Day 10: Sunshield Deployment Complete!

Day 10: Sunshield Deployment Complete!

From an engineering perspective, Webb’s sunshield was one of the most difficult challenges to overcome in building the telescope. Unlike ...
Webb with a completely deployed sunshield

Day 9: A Pause, and then Sunshield Tensioning Begins

The year 2021 ended for the Webb Telescope in a nominal way. “Nominal” is spacecraft lingo for “everything is going ...
Day 6: Sunshield Booms begin to deploy

Day 6: Sunshield Booms begin to deploy

Today saw the beginning of one of the most difficult Webb deployments so far, the sunshield rollout. The Webb telescope ...
Day 5: Webb’s Aft Momentum Flap and Sunshield Covers Deployed

Day 5: Webb’s Aft Momentum Flap and Sunshield Covers Deployed

The Webb team at the Mission Operations Center (MOC) at Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland started the ...
Day 4: Science Operation not limited by fuel; Webb’s Tower Extends

Day 4: Science Operation not limited by fuel; Webb’s Tower Extends

Because of its picture-perfect launch, Webb used less fuel than anticipated for its mid-course correction burns. Less fuel burned now ...
Day 3: Webb Sunshield Starts to Unfold

Day 3: Webb Sunshield Starts to Unfold

Unitized Pallet Structures (UPS) unfold. These two pallets (one forward and the other aft) hold the folded sunshield layers. The ...
Webb launches from the ESA spaceport on The Ariane 5 Rocket

Launch to Day 2

Webb already passed several milestones since its spectacular launch last Saturday. It separated from the Ariane 5 rocket, unfolded its ...
Webb Begins its Journey on ESA’s Ariane 5 Rocket!

Webb Begins its Journey on ESA’s Ariane 5 Rocket!

Today, the James Webb Space Telescope successfully blasted off from the European Space Agency’s launch site in Kourou, French Guiana ...
Webb Telescope emerging from the Ariane 5 faring

Why will it take six months to see JWST’s first science images?

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is ready for launch from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. More ...
STScI: NASA’s Webb Will Join Forces with the Event Horizon Telescope to Reveal the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

STScI: NASA’s Webb Will Join Forces with the Event Horizon Telescope to Reveal the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole

to create an image of the area directly surrounding the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way ...
An international team using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in October, will study a portion of the radiated cloud called the Orion Bar to learn more about the influence massive stars have on their environments, and even on the formation of our own solar system.

STScI: Webb to Study How Massive Stars’ Blasts of Radiation Influence Their Environments

An international team using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in October, will study a portion ...
STScI: NASA's Webb to Study Young Exoplanets on the Edge

STScI: NASA’s Webb to Study Young Exoplanets on the Edge

This outer realm of exoplanetary systems is an ideal hunting ground for NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Webb will ...