The James-Webb telescope shield has been fueled for more than 10 years

The James-Webb telescope sends a good message: its heat shield opens and it has good fuel. So he quietly heads towards his final orbit.

When fully functional, the James-Webb telescope measures 12 x 22 meters and is extremely large. Apparently, it could not be fully deployed, which explains why the few weeks it was launched, the time its various parts were placed, and the ground continued to pull the operator’s nerves. But for now they have nothing but good news to share.

On its way to its final orbit 1.4 million kilometers from Earth, the telescope began to open its thermal shield slightly unobstructed. Deployment takes place in five separate stages, and we know that the first two are successful. In practice, this is similar to the front and rear parts of the Sun Wiser, meaning that the James-Web is now open to its full length. The next step will be the sorting of the left and right blocks of the heat shield, before separating its different layers. Finally, all of these components are stretched, thus solidifying the integrity, increasing security and allowing the telescope to reach its maximum size. All this is still four or five days.

Fuel reserve for more than 10 years

The other good news comes from the fuel level analysis, which allows the engines to adjust the path to reach the final orbit. For a long time, motors were used to keep the satellite in this orbit and to steer it during its surveillance operations. Needless to say, the telescope will operate for as long as the first operations are economical, as James-Webb came out with a given amount of fuel. After two maneuvers to fix its path, the predictions promise: “The telescope will have enough fuel to operate in orbit for more than 10 yearsThe launch of the Ariane 5 rocket was widely hailed as a success, and its accuracy exceeded expectations during the James-Webb launch.

Finally, let’s slip a word about the extension of the pedestal to which the telescope is mounted, which should rise once in space to provide a wider view. An operation, again, ended without a hitch. The only website to follow the evolution of the telescope at 700,000 km from Earth: Where is the web.