How to watch the final stage of James Webb Space Telescope’s deployment today

By Georgina Torbet Published April 28, 2022

The James Webb Space Telescope is currently traveling through space on its way to its final orbit around the sun, and it has nearly completed the complex process of unfolding into its full form. NASA will shortly be broadcasting live coverage of the final stages of deployment, and we’ve got the details on how you can watch along at home.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

Shortly after its launch on December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope separated from the rocket which carried it out of Earth’s atmosphere and began to unfold. The observatory had to be folded up to fit inside the rocket, and over the last two weeks, it has been unfurling into its final configuration. That process is almost complete, with the last steps of the deployment expected to happen today.

Recommended Videos

What to expect from the deployment coverage

The James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror wings. — When the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror wings unfold and lock into place in space, the observatory will have completed all major spacecraft deployments. Northrop Grumman

So far the telescope has deployed its solar array just after launch, then deployed its forward and aft pallet structures which supports its huge sunshield. It unfolded a tower to provide separation between spacecraft and telescope, then a flap used for more efficient movement.

The big challenge was the deployment of the sunshield, which has five layers and is the size of a tennis court. With that deployed and tensioned, the secondary mirror was then deployed. Then there was the deployment of a radiator, and finally, the huge, hexagonal golden primary mirror began to be locked into place.

The final stage is the unfolding of the second primary mirror wing, which is scheduled for today. When that is done, the primary mirror will be in place and the telescope will be in its final form.

How to watch the coverage

NASA will livestream coverage of the final stages of James Webb’s deployment today. The coverage is scheduled to begin no earlier than 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT) on Saturday, January 8. Once the coverage of the deployment is complete, NASA will then hold a briefing with more information about the deployment process and the work James Webb will be doing.

To watch either the coverage or the briefing, you can tune into NASA’s TV channel. To do this, you can use the video player embedded near the top of this page or you can head to NASA’s webpage.

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

NASA’s Webb telescope peers straight at Saturn-like planets 130 light-years away

Saturn captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA's most precise and technically proficient equipment for observing the wonders of the universe. Astronomers rely on it to unravel the deepest secrets by peaking at distant solar systems and capturing planets like those in ours.

Much recently, the Webb Telescope was able to capture its first direct image of exoplanets nearly 130 light-years away from the Earth. The observatory seized images of four "giant" planets in the solar system of a distant star called HR 8799. This is a fairly young system formed roughly 30 million years ago, a timeline that dwarfs in comparison to our solar system's 4.6 billion years of age.

Space

NASA’s ‘stuck’ astronauts have finally left the space station

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

After a nine-month stay that was only supposed to last eight days, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally left the International Space Station (ISS) and are on their way home.

Seated inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft alongside fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, Williams and Wilmore undocked from the orbital outpost at 1:05 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 18.

Space

James Webb captures a stunning view of the dreamy Flame Nebula

Webb's image of the Flame Nebula

Our universe is host to many beautiful and fascinating objects, and we're lucky enough to be able to view many of them using high tech instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope. A new Webb image shows a new view of the gorgeous Flame Nebula, an emission nebula located in the constellation of Orion.

This nebula is a busy stellar nursery, with many new stars being formed there. But it isn't stars which researchers were interested in when they looked to the nebula -- in this case, they were studying objects called brown dwarfs. Bigger than most planets but smaller than a star, brown dwarfs are too small to sustain fusion in their cores, so they are often referred to as failed stars.

nproxy.org