NASA's James Webb Telescope Is Vulnerable In Space, Impact From Space Debris 'Inevitable'

The James Webb Space Telescope is likely to encounter a lot of space debris as it spins around the Sun in a chaotic orbit, according to NASA.

James Webb Space Telescope (Photo: NASA)

New Delhi: The NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is "fully deployed", after the space observatory completely unfolded its 21-metre primary mirror this week.

After decades of hard work, the most powerful telescope in the world unravel the secrets of the cosmos and by looking to the earliest galaxies and stars.

The $10 billion telescope, described by NASA as the premier space observatory of the next decade, will view the universe in the infrared spectrum.

However, NASA's most ambitious project is not devoid of obstacles in space. The space observatory is likely to encounter a lot of space debris as it spins around the Sun in a chaotic orbit, according to NASA.

Webb Likely To Face Many Threats In Space

The space agency said an impact with space junk is inevitable.

“Some small impacts from micrometeorites will happen,” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist Michelle Thaller was quoted as saying during a livestream on January 8.

Thaller said there will be some damage to the mirrors of the telescope over the lifetime of its mission.

The space agency is, however, not panicking.

The ground team controlling Webb's movements and spacecraft deployments in space said it is likely that the telescope would be able to survive some damage.

Julie Van Campen, a NASA engineer, said during the livestream that problems such as a piece of debris hitting the telescope and breaking a mirror may arise.

She explained that there is "not much" in terms of protection. “What you see is what you get," she added.

Highlighting a positive aspect, Van Campen said there would be at least four more layers to keep the telescope's sunshield together, even if a micrometer were to rip a tear into the shield.

“It was part of our lifetime calculations,” she said. 

Webb is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. However, unlike Hubble, Webb is not designed to be serviced in space. Hubble was been repaired and upgraded five times between 1993 and 2009.

Another important difference between Hubble and Webb is that the former operates in a much more cluttered orbit in low-Earth orbit.

Webb will be orbiting the Sun at Lagrange Point 2 or L2, which is 1.5 million kilometres away from our planet.

Thaller explained during the stream that L2 is a very nice place for the telescope to be at because it is a "cleaner place when it comes to space junk."

The JWST is equipped with some supernumerary features. For instance, Webb's mirrors are designed to withstand damage without putting a halt to its scientific missions.

Now that the mirror is fully deployed, Webb will begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the backsides of the segments to flex each mirror. This alignment will take months to complete.

After this, the team will calibrate the science instruments. Webb is expected to deliver its first images this summer.