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'Amazing milestone' as NASA fully deploys Webb telescope in space
Engineering teams in the James Webb Space Telescope's control room cheered as confirmation came back that its final wing was deployed and latched into place.
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In this photo released by NASA, engineering teams at NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, monitor progress as the observatory’s second primary mirror wing rotates into position, on January 8, 2022. The James Webb Space Telescope completed its two-week-long deployment phase on January 8, 2022, unfolding the final mirror panel as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history, NASA said. (AFP/Bill Ingalls)
T
he most powerful space telescope ever built completed a tricky two-week-long deployment phase Saturday, unfolding its final golden mirror panel, as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history.
Engineering teams in the James Webb Space Telescope's control room cheered as confirmation came back that its final wing was deployed and latched into place.
"I'm emotional about it -- what an amazing milestone," Thomas Zurbuchen, a senior NASA engineer, said during the live video feed as stargazers worldwide celebrated.
Because the telescope was too large to fit into a rocket's nose cone in its operational configuration, it was transported folded up.
Unfurling has been a complex and risky task -- "arguably the most challenging deployment program ever done by NASA," said NASA engineer Mike Menzel.
On Saturday morning, engineers sent a command from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland for the final section of golden mirror to unfold.
According to NASA, after the mirror was latched into place at 1:17 PM (1817 GMT), "the team declared all major deployments successfully completed."
