James Webb hit by ‘larger-than-expected’ micrometeorite, but still working

The James Webb Space Telescope was recently hit by a larger-than-expected micrometeorite. As a result, one of the eighteen mirrors has suffered some damage. NASA says that the telescope is still working properly.

Between May 23 and 25, the James Webb telescope had an impact on one of its primary mirrors that was “larger than expected,” writes the space agency. Its size could not be determined precisely, but it did cause some damage to the mirror in question.

The space agency reports that this impact has no consequences for the operation of the space telescope. “After an initial evaluation, the team determined that the telescope continues to perform at a level that exceeds all mission requirements, despite a marginally detectable effect in the data,” NASA said. To further compensate for the effect of the impact, NASA corrects the position of the impacted mirror. “This minimizes the effect of any impact, although not all deformation can be eliminated in this way,” the organization writes.

NASA emphasizes that the James Webb telescope was built to withstand micrometeorite impacts and that the telescope has been hit by such a small meteorite at least four times since its launch. These are impacts with meteorite fragments, often the size of a dust particle, that fly through space at extremely high speed. “However, the most recent impact was larger than envisioned in the model and went beyond what the team could have tested on the ground.” According to the space agency, however, the telescope is still performing above expectations.

James Webb launched from French Guiana on Christmas Day after years of delay. The telescope has now arrived on its final orbit around the L2 point. All of the telescope’s instruments have already cooled and aligned and James Webb recently sent sharp test photos back to Earth. This summer the real scientific work of the telescope will begin.