Time-Lapse of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Assembly, Sunshield Depl...

Time-Lapse of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Assembly, Sunshield Deployment

This time-lapse video reveals NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now a fully assembled observatory, and is accomplishing large-scale deployments and movements that it will perform while in space. In 2019, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope celebrated the full mechanical https://go.nasa.gov/2znr2JV and electrical assembly of the world’s largest, most powerful space science observatory ever built. Meaning that Webb’s two halves have been physically put together and its wiring harnesses and electrical interfaces have been connected. Following assembly, the Webb team moved on to successfully send deployment and tensioning commands to all five layers of its sunshield https://go.nasa.gov/2J9pfgM, which is designed to protect the observatory's mirrors and scientific instruments from light and heat, primarily from the Sun. Ensuring mission success for an observatory of this scale and complexity is a challenging endeavor. All of the telescope’s major components have been tested individually through simulated environments they would encounter during launch, and while orbiting a million miles away from Earth. Now that Webb is fully assembled, it must meet rigorous observatory-level standards. The complete spacecraft reacts and performs differently to testing environments than when its components are tested individually. “This has been an amazing journey to get here. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now one complete assembly, and known to be the most powerful space telescope ever created by humankind,” said Mark Voyton, Webb Observatory Integration and Testing, and OTIS Manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The 59-second video was created by NASA Goddard videographers and filmed over a period of time at Northrop Grumman’s clean room in Redondo Beach, California. Following Webb’s successful sunshield deployment and tensioning test, team members have nearly finished the long process of perfectly folding the sunshield back into its stowed position for flight, which occupies a much smaller space than when it is fully deployed. Then, the observatory will be subjected to comprehensive electrical tests and one more set of mechanical tests that emulate the launch acoustic and vibration environment, followed by one final deployment and stowing cycle on the ground, before its flight into space. The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in 2021. Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Michael McClare (KBRwyle): Videographer Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Video Editor This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13558 If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/NASAExplorer Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASA.GSFC · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc