Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Webb Telescope Mirror Rises after Assembly

NASA ^ | Monday, May 09, 2016 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Move over Hubble -- here comes the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST promises to be the new most powerful telescope in space. In the last month, the 18-segment gold-plated primary mirror for JWST was unveiled. In the featured time-lapse video taken last week, the 6.5-meter diameter mirror was raised to a vertical position. The dramatic 30-second sequence shows NASA engineers monitoring the test as room lights glint brightly off the mirror's highly reflective surface. The beryllium mirrors have been coated with a thin film of gold to make them more reflective to infrared light. The science goals of JWST include studying the workings of the early universe and the properties of planets orbiting nearby stars. Because of the mirror's great size, it will be folded for launch and then, assuming all goes as planned, dramatically unfolded again in space. The JWST, a joint mission of the space agencies of the USA, Europe, and Canada, is currently scheduled to be launched in late 2018.

[SunkenCiv]

[Image Credit: NASA's GSFC, Francis Reddy, Syneren Technologies]

[SunkenCiv]

The link under the pic below leads to the YouTube page instead of APoD, see the above link for the APoD page, which has the YT embedded anyway.

The Big One

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[Vermont Lt]

Will it be able to tell me when Planet X is coming to tip the Earth on its side?

(Cue X Files theme music)

[The Antiyuppie]

If this thing works, it will be fabulous. It’s a high-risk mission (and an expensive one) - if anything goes wrong, unlike the Hubble, it will not be in a position to be repaired by astronauts.

[jpsb]

The telescope that ate astronomy, original launch date 2007, cost 500 mil. Current launch date 2018, cost 8.8 billion. 11 years late, at a little more then 17 times the original estimated cost.

And forget about a repair mission should the very complicate launch/satellite have a problem.

Faster, Better, Cheaper my butt!

[dead]

The Webb/Hubble telescope tandem? odd.

[Gasshog]

It will discover a large Red galaxy called Chelsea’s Mouth

[C19fan]

Seems appropriate for something named after a bureaucrat even if an effective one. Worse name of a space scientific instrument evah. They ran out of famous astronomers to name it after?

[zeestephen]

Browsing through the Wiki article...

I had no idea that the Webb Telescope will be launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Guiana Space Center.

[minnesota_bound]

What are 6.5 meters?
How many inches is that?
I am in America and we use inches for telescope mirrors!

[TXnMA]

Essentially 256 inches...