NASA is expecting space debris to smash into its newly launched James Webb Space Telescope.
The US space agency isn’t panicking yet though as it’s actually accounted for impact scenarios.
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The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021.
It’s the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope and it cost around $10billion (£7.3billion).
The telescope is now fully deployed, which means it’s finally unfurled its huge mirrors and the sun-shield that will help it look for signs of life in the universe.
The telescope is essentially a massive mirror that can use infrared to see way beyond what we’ve seen before.
However, having a mirror this large floating around space could be problematic given the amount of meteorites that could hit it.
Nasa thinks an impact is likely inevitable.
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Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center scientist Michelle Thaller explained during a livestream: “Some small impacts from micrometeorites will happen.
“You know, over the lifetime of the mission there will be some damage to the mirrors of the telescope.”
The good news is Nasa experts think the telescope could survive some damage.
A broken mirror could be an issue for the James Webb but they’ve been designed to take a bit of damage.
Breaks in the telescope’s protective sunshield could also be survivable.
Nasa engineer Julie Van Campen said: “It was part of our lifetime calculations.”
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, Nasa experts won’t be able to visit the James Webb Space Telescope in person and physically fix it.
One saving grace is that the new telescope’s orbit should put it at a more distance location that has much less space junk than what the Hubble faced.
Unfortunately, debris will always be a threat to space telescopes and all engineers can do is take as many precautions as possible.
Nasa wants the James Webb Space Telescope to last for at least ten years so it’s got a decade of micrometeorite dodging ahead of it.
NASA launches the largest and most powerful telescope ever into space
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