It will take two days to tension the sunshade, which is the size of a tennis court.
Engineers activating the James Webb Space Telescope decided Sunday to hold off tightening the observatory's critical sunshade to allow more time to check out the performance of its power systems and overall behavior now that several major deployments are complete.
No technical details were provided, but the two-day sunshade tensioning process could begin as early as Monday. On Friday, two telescoping booms extended to either side of two pallets, pulling out and unfolding Webb's tennis court-size sunshade to kick off one of the most complex procedures in the observatory's initial activation.
The two pallets holding the sunshade were deployed and locked in place Tuesday, one on either side of Webb's 21.3-foot primary mirror. On Thursday, protective covers were commanded to roll off each pallet, exposing the still-folded sunshade membranes to space. They did, and with both booms extended to give the sunshade its iconic kite-like shape, all five layers must now be pulled taut using motor-driven cables running through scores of pulleys. Tensioning is required to produce a gap between each layer, providing space for excess heat to migrate outward to the sides.
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