Behind the Webb Stretching Webb's Wings (Episode 8)
Release Date: November 17, 2010 12:00AM (EST)
Media Use: Copyright
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1280 X 720 30.0 fps. 65.1 MB
640 X 360 30.0 fps. 18.5 MB
About This Video
One of the dominant features of the Webb telescope is its tennis-court-sized sunshield. The sunshield protects the observatory from unwanted light, keeping it cool and allowing it to detect heat from faraway objects in the universe.
Getting such a huge sunshield into orbit, however, is a technical feat. Webb's sunshield will be folded up during launch, and then unraveled in a seven-hour deployment process as the Webb telescope reaches its destination a million miles from Earth. Two deployable towers, or Mid Boom Assemblies (MBA), serve to stretch the sunshield open. The completion of this hour-long process triggers another mechanism that separates the sunshield's five layers, readying the sunshield for work.
RELATED LINK:
Webb Sunshield Like an Umbrella on the Shores of the Universe
