Accident in space: Micrometeorite hits James Webb Space Telescope

Floating in space 1.5 million kilometers from our planet, the James Webb Space Telescope received a blow between May 23 and 25, when a micrometeorite struck one of the device’s main mirrors. While the telescope was being developed, even the probability of penetrating small celestial bodies the size of a speck of dust in the solar system was calculated. However, the micrometeoroid striking the mirror exceeds these dimensions.

In these situations, engineers have the option to rotate the mirror to avoid collision. But the fragment from space is not part of the meteor shower known to astronomers, so its effect was unexpected.

was a larger collision than we anticipated

JWST team member Lee Feinberg of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said of this significant event: “Since launch, we’ve had four small, measurable micrometeoroid impacts that lived up to expectations. and the final effect was larger than our estimates.”

Experts hope that the primary mirror, which consists of 18 hexagonal gold-plated parts, is still intact. The impact of the impact on the data transmitted by the telescope today is discernible. But team members working with the space observatory suggest that this intervention will not be critical in the future. Picture taken today from James Webb, better quality than expected.