{"id":19184,"date":"2016-11-02T17:19:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T09:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-shows-off-the-james-webb-space-telescope-and-says-its-ready-for-testing\/"},"modified":"2016-11-02T17:19:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T09:19:22","slug":"nasa-shows-off-the-james-webb-space-telescope-and-says-its-ready-for-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-shows-off-the-james-webb-space-telescope-and-says-its-ready-for-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA shows off the James Webb Space Telescope and says it\u2019s ready for testing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"James
Engineers conduct a white-light inspection on NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope in the clean room at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. (Credit: Chris Gunn \/ NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After years of busted budgets and stretched timelines, NASA says its $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope is ready for testing and on track for launch in 2018.<\/p>\n

The telescope, seen as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is designed to capture images of the first galaxies ever formed and provide unprecedented data about planets circling distant stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we\u2019re celebrating the fact that our telescope is finished, and we\u2019re about to prove that it works,\u201d Nobel-winning astrophysicist John Mather, the telescope\u2019s senior project scientist, told reporters at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland today.<\/p>\n

NASA has completed an initial round of laser-based optical measurements, known as a Center of Curvature Test, to determine that the telescope\u2019s 18 hexagonal mirror elements are precisely aligned to produce sharp images.<\/p>\n

In the months ahead, the mirror will be subjected to the stresses and strains it\u2019s expected to experience during launch. Then the mirror\u2019s alignment will be checked again to make sure it\u2019ll work correctly in space.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ku45hQrNpPw<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASA also says the fifth and last layer of the telescope\u2019s sunshield has been completed and delivered to a facility in California. The reflective, foldable sunshield is designed to keep the telescope\u2019s sensitive electronics and optics from overheating.<\/p>\n

Eventually, all the components will be combined to create the finished telescope, and then loaded onto a European Ariane 5 rocket for launch in October 2018. The telescope will be sent to a gravitational balance point beyond Earth known as Sun-Earth L-2.<\/p>\n

The telescope is designed to be tuned remotely by mission controllers back on Earth \u2013 but it\u2019s not designed to be repaired by a visiting crew of astronauts, as was the case for Hubble. That means it\u2019s important for NASA to make sure no unfixable glitches come to light after liftoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you really care about something, you\u2019ve got to measure it at least twice,\u201d Mather said, \u201cand if you don\u2019t get the same answer, you better figure out why.\u201d<\/p>\n