NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was initially scheduled for a 2018 launch but suffered a series of delays due to the intricacy of construction it required. As the most complex telescope built to date, the number of parts needed and the necessity to get everything exactly right before launch meant the final date had to be pushed back several times. Now, the telescope is finally assembled and will soon be ready for testing and then, eventually, launch.
The recent work took place at the Redondo Beach, California, facilities of Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for Webb, which NASA bills as the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope.
Using a crane, engineers gently lowered the telescope element, which consists of the optical and scientific gear, onto the spacecraft body. Webb’s complex, foldable sunshield, which will keep the telescope’s instruments cool during operation, was already connected to the spacecraft segment.
The team then connected the two halves mechanically. Technicians still need to make, and then test, the electrical connections between the pieces, NASA officials said.
Researchers will use the observatory to hunt for signs of life in the atmospheres of nearby alien planets, for example, and to study the formation of the universe’s first stars and galaxies about 13.5 billion years ago.
“This is an exciting time to now see all Webb’s parts finally joined together into a single observatory for the very first time,” Gregory Robinson, the Webb program director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in the same statement. “The engineering team has accomplished a huge step forward, and soon we will be able to see incredible new views of our amazing universe.”
