The James Webb Deep Space Telescope which will be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and the first deep space telescope added the 18th and final mirror. Each mirror segment is 4.2 feet across or 1.3 meters in diameter and hexagonal in shape. They will be put together and then mounted onto the main super structure of the James Webb Space Telescope to complete the largest deep space observatory that mankind has yet to develop.
(Pictured above) The 18 protection containers that are housing the 18 Primary Mirrors that make up the Main Mirror that is 22 feet across.
(Above and below) The Final Mirror being installed by a precision robotic arm. This took place on February 3, 2016 at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Mayland.
The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched atop of an Ariane 5 rocket in the French Guiana by the (ESA) European Space Agency. The original launch vehicle selected to launch the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was going to be the Heavy Lift variant of the Space Launch System (SLS) currently in development by NASA and Kennedy Space Center.
(Above) Cross section of the Ariane V rocket with the James Webb Space Telescope inside the payload fairing.
(Above) Exploded view of the Ariane V rocket with the James Webb Space Telescope mounted inside the payload fairing.
(above) The JWST mylar sunshield fully deployed. This will protect the the primary and tertiary lenses from light exposure which will give the best imaging available
(above) The tertiary mirror of the JWST.
(above and below) James Webb Space Telescope completed and the L2 destination, in her final parking spot doing her job.
(below) The JWST infographic of her desitnation out past the moon at the L2 parking spot. It will take her 5 days, 15 hours, 24 minutes and 26 seconds to complete after launch from Kourous, French Guiana.
Photo credits : NASA, ESA, Northrop Grumman
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