James Webb Space Telescope permanently damaged: Report

Hyderabad: The world’s largest telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), built by NASA was damaged permanently and irreparably, says a new report. The $10 billion telescope was struck by a micro meteoroid in May this year and the complications of the hit are more serious than estimated before, suggests the new report. NASA scientists […]

Hyderabad: The world’s largest telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), built by NASA was damaged permanently and irreparably, says a new report.

The $10 billion telescope was struck by a micro meteoroid in May this year and the complications of the hit are more serious than estimated before, suggests the new report.

NASA scientists have estimated ‘one minor strike per month’ before the launch of the highly advanced Webb telescope and it has already been hit by five other smaller micro meteoroids since its launch.

The new report “Characterization of JWST science performance from commissioning” came after the launch of the astonishing images captured by NASA’s Webb telescope.

This report also stated that the lifetime of the JWST may be affected with the hit, as it damaged the primary mirror of the telescope.

However, the NASA team after their initial assessment of the Webb Telescope reported that the telescope is performing well and fulfills all its mission requirements.

Read full report here:
https://www.stsci.edu/files/live/sites/www/files/home/jwst/documentation/_documents/jwst-science-performance-report.pdf