NASA's Webb Sunshield undergoes rocket fitting, more testing

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's spacecraft element, which consists of the observatory's spacecraft bus and the sunshield, was put in the same folded-up configuration that it will be in when mounted on atop a rocket for ...

Time saving tooling rods used on NASA's Webb Telescope sunshield

Folding and refolding bed sheets to ensure they are squared can take a lot of time. It's the same with unfurling and folding up NASA's massive James Webb Space Telescope sunshield during testing. However, engineers found ...

NASA closes Chamber A door to commence Webb telescope testing

Though the Webb telescope will be enveloped in darkness, the engineers testing the telescope will be far from blind. "There are many thermal sensors that monitor temperatures of the telescope and the support equipment," said ...

A mechanical harmony to NASA's Webb Telescope sunshield

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has a giant custom-built, kite-shaped sunshield driven by mechanics that will fold and unfold with a harmonious synchronicity 1 million miles from Earth.

James Webb Space Telescope sunshield test unfolds seamlessly

(Phys.org) —A major test of the sunshield for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was conducted recently by Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. For the first time, the five sunshield test layers were unfolded and ...

Image: The sunshield for ESA's Solar Orbiter

(Phys.org) —Members of ESA's Solar Orbiter team watch expectantly as an essential part of the spacecraft is lowered into Europe's largest vacuum chamber: the multi-layered shield that will protect their probe from the Sun's ...

New video reveals NASA's Webb telescope is 'shaping up'

(Phys.org) —NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield is shaping up and it's the shape and unique design that viewers of a new video will find interesting. A five-layer sunshield helps keep the infrared instruments ...

Unfolding Gaia

(Phys.org) —Gaia, ESA's billion-star surveyor, will be launched into space towards the end of this year. In the meantime, ESA Space Science has launched a new 'minisite' focused on the Gaia mission.

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