Released by three space agencies, the report indicates that the observatory has sustained multiple impacts from micrometeoroids and one among them might have a significant effect
WHAT IS A MICROMETEOROID?
A micrometeoroid is a particle flying in the vacuum of space, which is smaller than a grain of sand, unlike big fragments of asteroids known as meteoroids.
IS JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE DAMAGED?
To some extent, yes. The report detailing the first six months of commissioning of the spacecraft states that the micrometeoroid which hit segment C3 in the period 22—24 May 2022 caused a significant uncorrectable change in the overall figure of that segment.
The effect was small at the full telescope level because only a small portion of the telescope area was affected. After two subsequent realignment steps, the telescope was aligned to a minimum of 59 nm RMS, which is about 5-10 nm RMS above the previous best wavefront error RMS value," the report stated.
NASA does prepare for these unavoidable impacts. In fact, when the James Webb Space Telescope was being built, engineers would reportedly intentionally hit it with micrometeoroid-sized objects to see if the contact would affect the working and performance of the telescope.
This is exactly why most of the debris pieces didn’t really affect much of the James Webb Space Telescope’s functioning. Well, all except one of the micrometeoroids ,which was larger than expected in size. Among the six pieces of debris that have left noticeable “deformities” on the space telescope, one remains the largest. Researchers are currently studying the impact site, trying to determine the amount of damage it has caused.
Micrometeoroids are a common problem for all kinds of spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. As per a report by Live Science, the US Space Survellance Network keeps track of over 23,000 pieces of debris that are large enough to cause damage to spacecraft. The report also mentions that these are just the bigger pieces, and the millions of smaller orbital debris pieces are almost impossible to monitor
That's all within the realm of the expected. When building the JWST, engineers intentionally hit mirror samples with micrometeoroid-sized objects to test how such impacts would affect the telescope's performance.
What was unexpected, however, was the size of the larger impactor that dented the C3 mirror. This space rock was seemingly larger than the team had prepared for, and researchers are now trying to assess the impact that further strikes like this could have on the JWST
The new status report, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, was authored by more than 200 scientists working at NASA, the European Space Agency (a collaborator in the JWST's construction and launch, along with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency) and other science institutions around the world. Despite the unexpected impact to the C3 mirror, the researchers found that the telescope is working flawlessly after the 6-month commissioning process, and has a bright future of discovery ahead of it.
"JWST was envisioned 'to enable fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems,'" the report says. "We now know with certainty that it will."
You must be logged in to post a comment.