James Webb Just Completed the Most Difficult Task of its Mission

The iconic James Webb Space Telescope has completed the most challenging task of its mission: deploying the massive sunshield. The giant kite-shaped and tennis-court-sized sunshield is now sailing in full bloom towards Webb’s final destination.

It started with the unfolding of the two pallet structures: forward and aft. This resulted in bringing the observatory to its full length of 70-feet. Then, the Deployable Tower Assembly separated the telescope and instruments from the sunshield and the main body of the spacecraft, thereby creating room for the sunshield to fully deploy.

Following this, the aft momentum flap and membrane covers were released and deployed.

The mid-booms deployment allowed the sunshield to extend to its full width of 47 feet. Finally, on January 4, 2022, at approximately 11:59 a.m. EST, the sunshield was fully tensioned and secured into position. This marked the completion of the intense task of sunshield deployment.

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