James Webb Space Telescope Launch and Deployment

[Music] as the Sun rises over the Guiana Space Center the team conducts final checks on the health and status of the Ariane 5 rocket and its payload a James Webb Space Telescope NASA's number-one science priority the Webb telescope is designed to look back to a time in stars and galaxies were first forming over thirteen point five billion years ago with its revolutionary design and capability the Webb telescope is about to unleash a new dawn of discovery seconds before liftoff the Aryan 5 liquid fuel engine comes to full power followed by the ignition on film storage locker have this dog the Webb telescope is finally on its way the result of years of study and development by thousands of key members in the United States Canada Europe Webb spacecraft offends nearly vertically through the heavy Miller atmosphere of Earth as the rocket reaches maximum acceleration to spend solid rocket motors of jettisoned safely into the atlantic ocean reaching the upper atmosphere where protection is no longer needed payload very negative info the way accelerating through the atmosphere the Aryan 5 rocket force gauge extends its fuel and shuts down the empty first stage then separates from the upper stage after first stage separation and the four second stage ignition the Webb telescope has a slightly downward trajectory and it speeds over the Atlantic Ocean the upper stage motor ignite and the ascent to l2 resumes never again will be interrupted the exposed telescope is delicate and must be protected from the sun's fierce heat to avoid overheating and damage a carefully designed series of oscillations are performed that provide the necessary protection near the end of powered flight the Roll program stops and the launcher then assumes the proper attitude for separation [Music] after separations in the Aryan upper stage the Webb telescope continues its journey to l2 under its own power taking the next step to its final orbital station 1 million miles [Music] the Webb telescope is about to unleash a dawn of discovery [Music] the Webb telescope separates from the launcher second stage the white ring close to the earth represents the Hubble Space Telescope's orbit and the larger orbit is the geosynchronous orbit where most telecommunication satellites are located the solar array is Webb's first deployment when completed all of Webb electrical power needs are satisfied by the solar array for the remainder of the mission the onboard control system continually monitors an update to the attitude to ensure power generation in thermal safety to preserve the cleanliness of the mirrors thrusters are located only on the sunlit side of the observatory the trajectory is designed without employing the retro fire which necessitates pointing the delicate telescope at the Sun if course corrections are needed these velocity additions must be done early in the flight to most efficiently use the mission limited precious fuel after completing mid-course Corrections the Webb telescope passes the orbit of aluminum Webb's initial transformation is the deployment of the sunshield pallets tower separating the telescope and instruments from the spacecraft and punching his next next the apt flat deployed this is key to managing momentum build up in future this structure helps to balance the pressure from the sun's light on the West telescope around its center of mass after the sunshield pallets reach their final position the membrane launch restraints are released these have kept the sunshield membrane safely in place from final stowage at the Northrop Grumman facility in California to shipment and noise the front shield protective covers war back permitting membrane deployment the covers over the core region released next then the mid booms extend and the sunshield assumes that sex agonal tennis court size shape it is now time to tension the sunshield membranes each thinner than a human hair pulling each of the uniquely sized and shaped layers to their optimal position when deployed the Sun shield allows the telescope to cool the 385 degrees Fahrenheit close enough to liquefy again while the layer closest to the Sun is almost 190 degrees Fahrenheit above nearly the boiling point of order almost 600 degrees true fire nice once in the shadow of the deployed Sun shield the telescope and instruments continue cooling down to their final operational cryogenic temperatures after completion of membrane tensioning the secondary mirror deploys in the position as lapse rigidly in place the aft deployable radiator releases and springs into position allowing the instrument to radiate their waste heat directly into space and away from the telescope disposing of excess heat is crucial to the mission so that it does not overwhelm the faint infrared signals to be collected from the cosmos the cord fold wings deploying and latching place completing the major deployments of the largest telescope in space [Music] as the Webb telescope continues out to its operational orbit around the Sun or as L to the observatory continues to cool down to its final cryogenic temperature state a trajectory correction applied 29 days after launch what's the Webb telescope into its halo orbit a key part of the mission design the Sun earth l2 point is where Webb's orbit around the Sun is synchronized with earth at this point 1 million miles from Earth webOS fries the thermal influences of the earth and all eclipses additionally the Sun Earth and Moon the brightest objects in the sky are hidden by the deployed function giving where the dark cold and stable environment to carry out its mission of discovery once the mirrors and detectors are sufficiently cold the wavefront sensing and control operations can begin this sophisticated multi-step operations ultimate goal its position each of the Webb telescopes mutable mirrors into their correct final position and orientation once the mirrors are aligned the mission team will continue checking out the science instrument preparing them for operations commissioning is completed about a hundred sixty days after launch and the science mission is ready this brings to fruition the work of the thousands of members of the web team from the United States of America Canada and Europe astronomers from all over the world can now use this facility that even children [Music] NASA's James Webb Space Telescope the game-changer discoveries made by this observer Tory will rewrite textbooks inspiring the next generation of future engineers and scientists this revolutionary tool will provide an unprecedented view that did the birth of the first stars and galaxies unleashing a new dawn of discovery [Music] [Music]

Channel: Northrop Grumman

Views: 806,354

Rating: 4.8547206 out of 5

Keywords: Northrop Grumman, NASA, James Webb Space Telescope, Missions, Telescopes, Space, Astrophysics, Space Exploration, STEM

Id: v6ihVeEoUdo

Length: 12min 2sec (722 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 24 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/digitallis]

It will be a testament to the reliability engineering team if that many actions can get pulled off without a hitch.

I would love to know if any other satellite comes close to this number of electromechanical sequence events.

[u/notepad7]

Wow. I've heard about the James Webb telescope but I had no idea that it was going to go past the moon in its mission.

[u/i_just_peed_myself]

385 degrees Fahrenheit below zero

internal screaming

[u/thatguywiththedatsun]

'Unleash a dawn of new discovery...'

[u/xladiciusx]

That's the most gangster piece of technology ever created.

[u/simjanes2k]

the ascent to L2 resumes, never again to be interrupted

motherfucking chills