File:NASA's Webb Telescope Inside Chamber A (39110614315).jpg

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This photo was taken from inside Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in September 2017, while the combined optical and science instrument element of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was undergoing cryogenic testing. The temperature at the time the photo was taken was approximately 50 kelvins (about -369.7 degrees Fahrenheit / -223.2 degrees Celsius).

The camera that captured this image was placed inside the chamber to measure the telescope’s alignment, but engineers also used it to monitor the black DuPont™ Kapton® covering that outlines Webb’s primary mirror. Engineers used this and other pictures to assess the material’s slack as the telescope shrank ever so slightly in the extreme cold of the chamber.

Once Webb is fully deployed and in orbit at the second Lagrange point (L2), this Kapton® “wreath” around the primary mirror will block unwanted light from behind the telescope from interfering with its observations.

In the photo, you can see each of Webb’s 18 hexagonal primary mirror segments, though the ones further from the camera quickly fade into darkness. The bright elements in the photo — the “stars” that seem to envelope Webb within the chamber — are targets that were used to measure extremely precise movements of the telescope as it cooled. Those targets appear so bright because this photo had a very long exposure time.

Webb’s combined optical and science instrument element completed cryogenic testing inside the chamber in November 2017.

Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

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Date
Source NASA's Webb Telescope Inside Chamber A
Author NASA/Chris Gunn
Chris Gunn    wikidata:Q110278636
 
Chris Gunn
Description American photographer
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q110278636

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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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  • attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
This image was originally posted to Flickr by James Webb Space Telescope at https://flickr.com/photos/50785054@N03/39110614315. It was reviewed on 7 June 2023 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

7 June 2023

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current12:54, 7 June 2023Thumbnail for version as of 12:54, 7 June 20231,970 × 1,295 (732 KB)Astromessier (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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