Micrometeoroid strikes James Webb Telescope

After fewer than six months in orbit, NASA's next-generation space observatory has experienced its first notable micrometeoroid hit.

Webb or JWST, the James Webb Space Telescope, will launch on December 25, 2021, from the International Space Station (ISS). Astronomers have been making their way into deep space for the past few months, where they've been getting ready for research observations. NASA recently announced that it intends to release the first science-quality photographs from the telescope on July 12.

Micrometeoroids, which are tiny pieces of space debris, have already had their first impact on the observatory, NASA stated on Wednesday (June 8). Even if the observatory's schedule and scientific legacy are not expected to be affected, don't worry:

Lee Feinberg, an optical telescope element manager at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, stated, "with Webb's mirrors exposed to space, we assumed that periodic micrometeoroid strikes would gently reduce telescope performance." A recent micrometeoroid strike was more significant than expected, but it was one of four lesser detectable micrometeoroid strikes we've seen since its launch.

According to the statement, the C3 segment of the 18-piece gold-plated hexagonal primary mirror was impacted between May 23 and May 25.

All spacecraft are intended to withstand micrometeoroid hits, and JWST is no exception. The observatory's engineers used real impacts on mirror samples to test the effects of such incidents on the mission's science.

According to the statement, the most recent impact was more than the mission team had predicted or tested on the ground.

NASA officials are convinced that the $10 billion telescopes will work effectively despite the impact occurring early in their lifespan.

Technical deputy project manager Paul Geithner at NASA Goddard says in a statement that "we always knew that Webb would have to weather the space environment, which includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy," and "occasional strikes by micrometeoroids within our solar system." As a result, "we designed and built Webb with an abundance of performance margin—optical, thermoelectrical, electrical, and mechanical—to ensure that it can continue to accomplish its ambitious science mission for years to come."

In addition, JWST's optics were in better shape than expected when it went into service, according to a statement from NASA.

Several micrometeoroid strikes can be foreseen, according to the officials. Personnel can, for example, manipulate JWST's optical instruments into safety for occasions like known meteor showers. It was not part of a meteor shower, and the statement referred to it as "an unavoidable chance incident," which happened recently.

To maintain the mirror's overall tuning after a hit, engineers can adjust the observatory's 18 primary mirror parts individually.

For now, the JWST team is concentrating on learning more about how the observatory will be affected as it continues its mission. At the same time, NASA works to comprehend better the specific event that will occur. Lagrange point 2 is located about a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in a perpendicular direction to the equator.

To ensure that Webb's imaging capabilities are maximized for many years, Feinberg indicated that they would use the flight data collected during this mission to update their performance analyses and develop operating procedures continually.

Meghan Bartels can be contacted at mbartels@space.com or on Twitter at @meghanbartels. " @Spacedotcom on Twitter and Facebook.

Article source : https://www.livescience.com/jwst-hit-by-micrometeoroid-space

Image source   : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/astronomi-cerah-rasi-bintang-gelap-1867616/

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