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Jan 24 • 21 tweets • 10 min read
As we approach final destination, let's take a moment to recap all the incredible steps #Webb went through so far. Thread 👇
1/ Webb's journey to space started in French Guiana, at the European Space Port. Here's why this was an ideal launch side for #Webb
2/ On Christmas Day 🎄, @Ariane5 made a flawless launch of the James #Webb Space Telescope. #WebbThanksAriane
3/ That's how the launch looked like, but how did it sound? Turn the volume up 🔊!
4/ Check after check, #Ariane5 performed exactly as expected
✔️ Solid boosters separated
✔️ Fairing jettisoned
✔️ Main stage separated
5/ It was hard to say goodbye 👋to #Webb but the exciting journey ahead made it easier.
6/ Soon after separation, #Webb's solar array deployed and batteries were charging up 🔋
7/ The largest & most important mid-course correction was done 12.5 hours after launch. The #Webb team was at that point able to determine that @ariane5's placement of #Webb was better than requirements #WebbThanksAriane
8/ The team then deployed the gimbaled antenna assembly 📡, which included Webb’s high-data-rate dish antenna. This antenna is used to send at least 28.6 Gbytes of data down from the observatory, twice a day
9/ Part of @esaoperations' #Estrack cooperative network, the 10-m dish in #Malindi, Kenya, was due to make first contact for the all-important 'acquisition of signal’ and so it did.
10/ After a 2nd mid-correction burn, the team determined #Webb should have enough propellant to support science operations in orbit for significantly more than a 10-year lifetime! (to be continued)
11/ After the first two mid-correction burns, #Webb started to unfold, origami style
12/ Several steps were needed to start deploying #Webb's sunshield 🛡️
✔️ The unfolding of the pallets
✔️ The extension of the observatory’s Deployable Tower Assembly
✔️ Releasing and rolling the sunshield covers
13/ Just as firecrackers 🎆 were signalling the entrance into the new year, the booms were extended to pull out the observatory's 5 sunshield layers
14/ Next was sunshield tensioning, but here are some cool facts about #Webb 's sunshield:
15/ On Jan 3, tension was rising 🪢 and that was a good thing!
16/ And there it was, sunshield fully tensioned 🎊
17/ Next were the mirrors. The observatory’s secondary mirror plays an important role in reflecting the light from the primary mirror to where the instruments sit
18/ The first of two primary mirror wings was then deployed. Here's more on #Webb's mirrors
19/ The much-awaited moment then arrived: deployment complete! 🎉
20. As #Webb advanced on its journey, the team began moving the observatory’s individual mirror segments out of their launch positions which brings us to today. Ready for L2 orbit insertion?

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More from @ESA_Webb

ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Jan 24
1/ While we wait for news on L2 orbit insertion, we've got some facts for you on #Webb's orbit 👇
2/ Unlike @Hubble_Space #Webb will not be in orbit around the Earth, but will orbit the Sun, 1.5 million km away from the 🌍 at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.
3/ This orbit lets the telescope stay in line with the Earth as it moves around the Sun. This allows the satellite's large sunshield to protect the telescope from the light and heat of the Sun, Earth and Moon.
Read 16 tweets
ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Jan 23
1/ The Mid-InfraRed Instrument #MIRI is one of 4 instruments on the James #Webb Space Telescope. The only mid-infrared instrument in its instrument suite. #WebbSeesFarther
📷 NASA/ Chris Gunn
2/ Thanks to state-of-the-art instrument design and components, it will deliver mid-infrared images and spectra with an unprecedented combination of sharpness and sensitivity. #WebbSeesFarther
3/ #MIRI will be capable of penetrating thick layers of dust obscuring regions of intense star birth. It will see the first generations of galaxies to form after the #BigBang, and it will study sites of new planet formation and the composition of the interstellar medium.
Read 4 tweets
ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Jan 22
1/ #NIRSpec has three modes of operation: multi-object spectroscopy mode, fixed slits spectroscopy mode and integral field spectroscopy mode:
2/ 🔴 multi-object spectroscopy mode — #NIRSpec will be the 1st multi-object spectrograph in space, able to record the spectra of up to 200 objects at the same time. A capability enabled by microshutters.
3/ 🔴 fixed slits spectroscopy mode — #NIRSpec will also be able to carry out single-object, high-contrast spectroscopy using a set of five fixed slits. It will provide high contrast spectra of sources and a key to the study of exoplanets.
Read 4 tweets
ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Jan 8
1/ As we wait for full mirror deployment, here are some cool-to-know facts about #Webb 's mirrors.
📷 Northrop Grumman, NASA/Chris Gunn
2/ #Webb has a primary mirror 6.5m across as this is what was needed to measure the light from very young galaxies 🌀 over 13 billion light years away.
3/ A mirror this large had never before been launched into space! If the @HUBBLE_space 2.4 m glass mirror were scaled to be large enough for #Webb, it would be too heavy to launch into orbit.
Read 16 tweets
ESA Webb Telescope Profile picture
Jan 5
1/ While everyone's eyes were on the shield tensioning, the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) provided by @esa for #Webb also had an important milestone: unlocking the Contamination Control Cover, which had to be locked for launch.
🔗 blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/0…
🎥 ESA/ATG medialab
@esa 2/ After successfully completing the tests and unlocking the cover, the instrument control electronics were then powered off before the next steps on the sunshield tensioning activities.
@esa 3/ This key step for MIRI was monitored remotely by team members in Europe, ready to provide assistance if it were needed.
Read 5 tweets

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