* Astronomy

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RE: James Webb Space Telescope

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Webb Telescope Passes Important Optical Test on This Week @ NASA May 5, 2017

Spoiler

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James Webb telescope: Hubble successor set for yet more tests

Engineers are getting ready to box up the James Webb Space Telescope and send it to Houston, Texas.
The successor to Hubble, due for launch in 2018, is going to be put inside the giant thermal vacuum chamber where they tested the Apollo spaceships.
For 90 days, JWST will get a thorough check-up in the same airless, frigid conditions that will have to be endured when it eventually gets into orbit.
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James Webb: Two years to Hubble successor's launch

Engineers have finished assembling the telescope that will succeed Hubble.
The huge new observatory known as James Webb is on track to be launched in exactly two years from now.
It will go into space on a European Ariane rocket from French Guiana, but before that is possible the delicate hardware must be tested to ensure it will survive the ride.
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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Fully Assembled

The 18th and final primary mirror segment is installed on what will be the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever launched. The final mirror installation Wednesday at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland marks an important milestone in the assembly of the agencys James Webb Space Telescope.
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New Video Brings Webb Telescope's Third Mirror to Light

There are four types of mirrors that will fly on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. They're called the "primary, secondary, tertiary" and fine steering mirrors. Although the 18 primary mirror segments make the biggest splash, the other mirrors are equally as important. A new video takes viewers behind the scenes for a special look at the tertiary mirror.
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Blanketing NASA's Webb Telescope's Science Instrument Electronics

These engineers from Genesis Engineering Solutions are doing what's called "blanket closeout" and it took two days to complete.
The gold louvres are composite mirrors, made of gold-coated carbon fibre, designed to remove the heat from inside the IEC to deep space.
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First James Webb telescope mirrors delivered to Nasa

The first two components of the huge mirror set to fly on the US James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have been delivered to Nasa.
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New Video Reveals the James Webb Space Telescope's Canadian 'Dynamic Duo'

A "Dynamic Duo" from Canada is the latest topic of the "Behind the Webb" series of videos, which goes behind the scenes to highlight technology in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
The dynamic duo is actually a combination instrument consisting of the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) science instrument. The FGS will enable the telescope to accurately and precisely point at the correct, intended objects for it to observe. The FGS is packaged together as a single unit with the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) science instrument.
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Ball finishes mirrors for space telescope

Scientists at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. announced Wednesday that they've completed the design and construction on the most challenging component of the James Webb Space Telescope - the surface mirrors.
Ball designed the 18 mirror segments, which will compose the primary mirror and make it the most powerful, high-tech observatory sent into space.
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