March 28, 2024

NASA Webb Space Telescope: First of Two Sunshield Mid-Booms Deploys

J- Boom and Sun Shield deployment. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
The Webb mission operations group has extended the very first of the sunshields 2 “arms”– the port (left side) mid-boom.
The important step of the port mid-boom deployment was scheduled to begin earlier in the day. The group paused work to verify that the sunshield cover had actually totally rolled up as the last preparatory step prior to the mid-boom deployment.
Switches that ought to have shown that the cover rolled up did not trigger when they were expected to. Nevertheless, tertiary and secondary sources used verification that it had. Temperature data appeared to reveal that the sunshield cover unrolled to obstruct sunlight from a sensing unit, and gyroscope sensors indicated movement consistent with the sunshield cover release gadgets being triggered.

By NASA
December 31, 2021

After analysis, mission management decided to progress with the routinely planned release sequence. The implementation of the five telescoping sections of the motor-driven mid-boom started around 1:30 p.m. EST, and the arm extended efficiently up until it reached full deployment at 4:49 p.m
. As Webbs implementation actions are all human-controlled, the schedule for implementations might continue to alter– as todays activities revealed. Quickly before 6:30 p.m., the team decided to continue with deploying the starboard mid-boom tonight, and the preliminary actions of that release started at 6:31 p.m.