The powerful primary mirrors of the
James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant
galaxies. The manufacturer of those mirrors, Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corp. of Boulder, Colo., recently celebrated their successful efforts as mirror
segments were packed up in special shipping canisters (cans) for shipping to
NASA.
The Webb telescope has 21 mirrors, with
18 primary mirror segments working together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter)
primary mirror. The mirror segments are made of beryllium, which was selected
for its stiffness, light weight and stability at cryogenic temperatures. Bare
beryllium is not very reflective of near-infrared light, so each mirror is
coated with about 0.12 ounce of gold.
Image Credit: Ball Aerospace
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