James Webb Space Telescope is fully expanded

After successfully deploying the heat shields last week, NASA also managed to deploy the mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope. The machine is now ready for final calibrations.

The JWST, unfolded in a hangar

The unfolding of the mirrors was completed on Saturday, at a little after a quarter past seven in the evening. This completes the unfolding phase, which lasted a total of two weeks. All 18 mirrors of the nearly 6.5-meter-wide space telescope are now in place. Due to its large size, the James Webb space telescope did not fit in the Ariane 5 rocket and therefore had to be sent into space folded. That finally happened on December 25.

The spacecraft must complete its journey to its final destination, which will take another two weeks. According to NASA, it will then take about five months for the vehicle to cool down and the calibrations of the measuring instruments and the mirrors are ready. All in all, the first images produced by the telescope are expected in June 2022.

Livestream of the mirrors deployment (for reference, video starts upon successful completion)