[silent]
[music, birds chirping]
As the
sun rises over the Guiana Space Center, the team conducts final checks
on the health and status of the Ariane V rocket and its payload.
...the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA's number one science priority.
[music]
The WEbb Telescope is designed to look back to
a time when stars and galaxies were first forming, over
13.5 billion years ago. With its revolutionary design,
and capabilities, the Webb Telescope is about to unleash a new dawn
of discovery.
Launch count down: 10, 9, 8
seconds before liftoff the Ariane V's
liquid fueled engine comes to full power
followed by the ignition of the two solid rockets, we have
liftoff.
The Webb Telescope is finally on it's way, the result of years
of study and development by thousands of team members in the United States
Canada, and Europe. Webb's spacecraft
ascends nearly vertically through the heavy lower atmosphere of Earth.
As the rocket reaches maximum acceleration, the spent solid rocket motors
are jettisoned safely into the Atlantic ocean.
reaching the upper atmosphere where protection is no longer needed, the payload faring
is jettisoned and falls away.
Accelerating through the atmosphere , the Ariane V
rocket's first first stage expends its fuel and shuts down
The empty first stage
then separates from the upper stage
after first stage separation and before second stage ignition
the Webb Telescope has a slightly downward trajectory
as it speeds over the Atlantic ocean, the upper stage motor
ignites and the accent to L-2 resumes, never again to
be interupted.
The exposed telescope is delicate, and must be protected from
the sun's fierce heat, to avoid over-heating 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.
After separation from the Ariane upper stage, the Webb Telescope
continues it's journy to L-2 under it's own power.
Taking the next step to its final orbital station, 1 million miles from Earth.
The WEbb Telescope is about to
unleash a new dawn of discovery
Teh 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 geo-synchronous orbit where more telescommunication
satellites are located. The solar array is Webb's first deployment
When completed, all of Webb's electrical power needs are satified by the solar array
for the remainder of the mission. The onboard control system
continually monitors and updates the attitude to ensure power generation and thermal safety
To preserve the cleanliness of the mirros,
thrusters are located only on the sunlit side of the observatory.
The trajectory is designed without employing a 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's limited, precious fuel.
After completing mid-course correction,
the Webb Telescope passes the orbit of the moon
Webb's
initial transformation, is the deployment of the sunshield pallets
The tower separating the telescope and instruments from the spacecraft and sunshield is next,
Next, the aft
falp deploys. This is key to managing momentum build-up
and fuel consumption. This structure helps to balance the pressure
from the sun's light on the Webb Telescope around its center of mass.
After the sunshield pallets reach their final
positions, the membrane launch restraints are released.
These have kept the sunshield membrane safely in place from final stowage
at the Norhrop Grumman facility in California through shipment and launch.
The sunshield protective covers roll back, permitting membrane deployment.
The
covers over the core region release next
Then the mid-booms
extend and the sunshield assumes its hexagonal, 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 sunshield allows the telescope to cool down
to -385 degrees fahrenheit
cold enough to liquify air. While the layer closest to the sun is almost
190 degrees fahrenhiet above zero, nearly the boiling point of water,
a difference of almost 600 degrees.
truly fire and ice. Once in the shadow of the
deployed sunshield, the telescope and instruments continue cooling down to their
final operational cryogenic temperatures.
At the completion of membrane tensioning, the secondary mirror
deploys into position and is latched rigidly in place.
The aft deployable radiator releases and springs into
position, allowing the instruments 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 infra red signal
to be collected from the cosmos. The
primary mirror wings deploy and latch in place. Completing the major
deployments of the largest telescope in space.
As the Webb Telescope continues out to its operational orbit around
the sun-Earth L-2, the observatory continues to cool down to its
final cryogenic temperature state
I trajectory correction applied 29 days
after launch, puts the Webb Telescope into its halo orbit.
A key part of the mission design, the
sun-Earth L-2 point is where Webb's orbit around the sun is synchronized
with Earth's. At this point, one million miles
from Earth, Webb is free from 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 sunshield
giving Webb a dark, cold, and stable environment
to carry out its mission of discovery.
Once the mirrors and detectors are sufficiently cold
the Wave Front Sensing and Control operations can begin.
This sophisticated, multi-step operation's ultimate goal
is to position each of the Webb Telescope's movable mirrors into
their correct, final positions and orientations.
Once the mirrors are aligned, the mission team will continue checking
out the science instruments preparing them for operations.
Commissioning is completed about 160 days after launch.
And the science mission is ready to begin.
This brings to fruition the work of the thousands of members of the
Webb Team. From the United States of America, Canada, and
Europe. Astronomers from all over the world can now
use this facility to study the universe.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
is a game changer which will revolutionize mankind's understanding of the universe.
Discoveries made by the
observatory will re-write text books, inspiring the next generation of
future engineers and scientists
this revolutionary tool, will provide mankind with an unprecedented view into the birth
of the first stars and galaxies, unleashing a new dawn
of discovery.
[music]