A million mile trip into space requires careful packing. 🧳
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 7, 2021
Engineers have successfully folded and packed #NASAWebb's sunshield — a heat protector the size of a tennis court. Read more about Webb's latest update at @northropgrumman: https://t.co/m0debfql4M pic.twitter.com/pzX3swlxqU
To prepare for folding, engineers began with laying the five layers of the sunshield as flat as possible. Afterwards, the layers were lifted vertically and propped onto special support equipment so that they could be properly restrained for folding. pic.twitter.com/5GRatYH4oH
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 7, 2021
Fully deployed, the telescope’s sunshield measures almost 70 ft by 47 ft (21 m by 14 m). When stowed inside the rocket for launch, the folded sunshield will be packaged in a very confined area to fit the 18-ft (5.4-m) diameter rocket fairing. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/8qNUNaavvq
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 7, 2021
In space, one side of the sunshield will always reflect light and heat from the Sun, Earth & Moon. The other side will always face deep space, experiencing temperatures cold enough to freeze oxygen solid. pic.twitter.com/2LdZ6uAsE4
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) April 7, 2021