James Webb Space Telescope – Engineering images

View of a portion of the James Webb Space Telescope backplane component that will hold the primary mirror segments.
View of a portion of the James Webb Space Telescope backplane component that will hold the primary mirror segments. Eight sections that will hold mirror segments are in full or partial view.
Simulated view of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in it's folded and stowed launch configuration inside the nose cone...
Simulated view of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in it's folded and stowed launch configuration inside the nose cone of an Ariane 5 rocket.
The Cryocooler Electronics during testing.
Cryocooler Electronics
The Cryocooler Compressor Assembly. This photo shows the flight cryocooler installed "upside-down" in a vacuum chamber for testing, before the...
Cryocooler Compressor Assembly
The cooling device for the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, one of the James Webb Space Telescope's four instruments. The MIRI...
Webb's Cryocooler
The MIRI instrument. MIRI's operates at temperatures of no more than 6.7 degrees above absolute zero, or minus 448 degrees...
NASA's MIRI Instrument Gets Clean Bill of Health
This image shows an engineer in a cleanroom looking at one of the sunshield layers that shows a grid pattern...
A layer of the James Webb Space Telescope's flight sunshield
On orbit, the observatory is pointed so that the sun, Earth and moon are always on one side, with the...
The James Webb Space Telescope's Sunshield
The sunshield's membrane layers, each as thin as a human hair, are made of Kapton, a tough, high-performance plastic coated...
The James Webb Space Telescope's Sunshield Membrane
The SIDECAR(TM), or System Image, Digitizing, Enhancing, Controlling and Retrieving ASIC performs high-fidelity A-to-D signal conversion at cryogenic temperatures.
Cryo ASIC, by Rockwell
Engineers inspect NASA's James Webb Space Telescope as it sits inside Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston....
Webb after cryogenic testing at JSC
A screenshot from the James Webb Space Telescope "Webbcam" showing the test chamber that Webb telescope had been sealed within,...
Webb during cryogenic testing at JSC with approximated chamber temperature indicated at -423.670 degrees F or 20 degrees Kelvin
A crane lifts the flight instruments of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Goddard thermal vacuum chamber where it...
ISIM in Thermal Vac at GSFC
Webb Instruments and their detectors
This figure shows four 0.6 - 2.5 μm James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam H2RGs mounted into a focal plane module....
James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam H2RGs
A James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) detector with optical baffles removed. Light is collected in the purple...
Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) detector
The James Webb Space Telescope uses infrared detector hybrids. The pixelated absorber layer (HgCdTe or Si:As) absorbs the light and...
infrared detector hybrids
This MIRI detector (green) is housed in a brick-like unit called a focal plane module. It has a 1024x1024 pixel...
This MIRI detector
Another view of the 1/6th scale model of the JWST mirror in optics testbed.
wavefront sensing and control testbed
Alternative view of the 1/6th scale model of the JWST mirror in optics testbed.
Webb Optics Testbed
Fully functional, 1/6th scale model of the JWST mirror in its optics testbed used to develop wavefront sensing and control.
Webb Optics Testbed 2
This abstract image was a preview of the instrumental power that was unleashed now that the James Webb Space Telescope...
microshutter testing image
One of the four array quadrants of the microshutter device is about the size of a postage stamp. Each quadrant...
entire microshutter device
An array of microshutters on the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRSpec instrument.
An array of microshutters.
The entire microshutter device consists of approximately 250,000 individual windows with shutters arrayed in a waffle-like grid.
entire microshutter device
A technician aligns a Focal Plane Assembly, part of the NIRCam instrument.
A technician in a cleanroom suit inspects parts to an instrument through a 3D microscope.
Credit: NASA Goddard/Chris Gunn
gold-hued hexagonal primary mirror of Webb telescope, photographed inside a clean room
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
Webb’s giant golden mirror stands tall. Light reflects off the 18 gold-coated mirror segments in a clean room. Its secondary mirror support structure is folded upwards. Its folded sunshield is just visible at lower left.
Following a successful deployment test of NASA Webb’s mission-critical secondary mirror, technicians and engineers visually inspect the support structure that...
Technicians and engineers visually inspect the support structure of the James Webb Space Telescope that holds it in place.
Ball Aerospace lead optical test engineer Dave Chaney inspects six primary mirror segments, critical elements of the James Webb Space Telescope, prior to cryogenic testing in the X-ray & Cryogenic Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope being worked on at NASA
NASA technicians lift the James Webb Telescope
This archival image is from May 2021 when Webb was at the Northrop Grumman facility. During this approximate time period...
This archival image is from May 2021 when Webb was at the Northrop Grumman facility. During this approximate time period (late spring to early summer), the telescope was having its sunshield packed up and prepped for launch, and the final test fold of the mirror wings was also taking place.
Approximate temperatures of the two sides of Webb Telescope: the sun facing hot side ( 185°F / 85°C ) and...
Infographic showning Webb in profile with light from the sun hitting the the sun facing hot side of the sunshield ( 185 F / 85 C ) and the deep space facing cold side of the sunshield and telescope ( -388F / -233C ) as well as showing the 5 layer sunshield radiating heat out of each layer.
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed...
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed by engineers and technicians at Northrop Grumman.
This image is from October 2019 when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying...
This image is from October 2019 when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to the same position that they will have while orbiting the Sun a million miles away from Earth.
In this photo from August 2020, engineers and techs prep the James Webb Space Telescope for the environmental testing it...
In this photo from August 2020, engineers and techs prep the James Webb Space Telescope for the environmental testing it underwent this fall. This testing, designed to mimic the sound and vibration the telescope will experience during launch, was successfully completed in early October 2020. Here the sunshield is carefully folded in preparation for stowing the telescope into its launch configuration.
This archival image is from May 2021 when Webb was at the Northrop Grumman facility. During this approximate time period...
This archival image is from May 2021 when Webb was at the Northrop Grumman facility. During this approximate time period (late spring to early summer), the telescope was having its sunshield packed up and prepped for launch, and the final test fold of the mirror wings was also taking place.
In this archival image from January 2021, technicians and engineers work on the James Webb Space Telescope, preparing its sunshield...
In this archival image from January 2021, technicians and engineers work on the James Webb Space Telescope, preparing its sunshield to be folded. The sunshield fold was accomplished in April 2021. Read all about this milestone:
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed...
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed by engineers and technicians at Northrop Grumman.
This image is from October 2019 when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying...
This image is from October 2019 when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to the same position that they will have while orbiting the Sun a million miles away from Earth.
August 2020, engineers and techs prep the James Webb Space Telescope for the environmental testing it underwent this Fall. This...
Webb in the clean room an Northrup Grumman for final integration and test. with the 5 sunshield layers laid flat on a supporting structure
Webb's sunshield folded into the pallets that hold it for launch and deployment.
Webb in the Northrup Grumman clean room for final integration and test before launch. Shown here with the primary mirror wings deployed and the sunshield folded within the forward pallet.
The image is from April 2020. Webb in the Northrup Grumman clean room for final integration and test before launch....
Webb in the Northrup Grumman clean room for final integration and test before launch. Technicials are preparing the sunshield and sunshield covers into their folded launch configuration
Webb in the Northrup Grumman clean room for final integration and test before launch. Technicians preparing the sunshield for folding...
Webb in the Northrup Grumman clean room for final integration and test before launch. Technicians preparing the sunshield for folding after a successful deployment test.
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed...
This archival image was taken in February 2021 and shows the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield being folded and packed by engineers and technicians at Northrop Grumman.
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch...
Webb launches on a cloudy day from an Arianne 5 rocket. The image shows the rocket just lifting off the pad with a plume of orange fire and a plume grey blue smoke extending well to the right against a slate blue sky.
The FGS/NIRISS at NASA Goddard before integration into the instrument module.
Webb Telescope's Fine Guidance Sensor Gets Lots of Guidance
Montage of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in it's folded and stowed launch configuration inside the nose cone of...
Montage of Webb (JWST) in it's folded and stowed launch configuration inside the nose cone of an Ariane 5 rocket.
Webb's sunshield is positioned between the Sun/Earth/Moon and the telescope. Webb's orbit at L2.
Diagram (not to scale) of Lagrange points L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 relative to the sun and the earth. An illustration of JWST is shown orbiting the L2 Lagrange point.
The sunshield protects the telescope from external sources of light and heat (like the Sun, Earth, and Moon).
An illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope with the following items labelled and identified: the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) Primary Mirror, OTE Secondary Mirror, the Backplane, ISIM (Integrated Science Instrument Module), the Sunshield, the Spacecraft Bus, and the Startrackers.
The Brush Wellman team and the mirror blanks.
An image of the Mirror Segments and its Brush Wellman team
On May 19, 2016, inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Webb’s Integrated Science Instrument Module...
Webb’s instrument module is integrated onto the back of the telescope, right behind the mirrors. The telescope is facedown on a white stand, with the golden mirrors facing down. The secondary mirror support structure is folded over the mirrors, with the round back of the secondary mirrors facing the camera. Behind it is a black radiator panel. The instrument module is being lowered by a crane. The 4 science instruments are visible through the module structure. In the background is a wall of HEPA filters that help keep the NASA Goddard cleanroom clean.
On Nov. 6, 2012, engineers and technicians inspected one of the first of Webb’s 18 hexagonal mirrors to arrive at...
A diverse group of people in white cleanroom suits carefully inspect a single golden faced, hexagonal mirror from the James Webb Space Telescope. Many faces all stare intently, some using flashlights, to examine the mirror surface. Reflected on the surface is the face and intense eye contact from one engineer, and the bright reflection of his flashlight shining directly at the viewer. Behind this engineer, a stainless-steel lens cap used to safely transport the mirror, nearly the size of a human body, rests on scaffolding, still attached by ropes to the crane that lifted it off the mirror moments before. In the background, gray and light blue walls lay behind several other components of Webb scattered around the cleanroom floor. To the right of the frame, a structure made of long overlapping black struts that appear like scaffolding sits on top of a lift table that is meant to safely move the structure up and down.
Inside a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, on the afternoon of April 25, 2016, the James Webb...
The covers being removed from the hexagonal gold mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope. Two people in cleanroom “bunny” suits lay on diving boards over the mirror, which lays face pointed up, very carefully removing the covers one at a time. In this photo 6 covers have been removed, revealing the golden mirrors beneath. These are the 4 center line mirrors and two in the 4 and 5 o’clock positions. The two workers each hold part of another cover as they remove it. The worker on the right is reflected in the mirrors. Each of the black covers has a white sign on it noting which mirror segment it is. Each segment has a unique designation including A, B, or C and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 depending on its prescription and location.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is shown with one of its two “wings” folded. Each wing holds three of its...
The James Webb Space Telescope mirrors upright on a white stand in the NASA Goddard cleanroom. The 3 mirrors on the right “wing” are folding back like a leaf on a drop-leaf table. The telescope has 18 golden hexagonal segments. The secondary mirror support structure, made of three thin black lines, is folded and the secondary mirror sits atop this folded tripod. There are 5 people in white cleanroom suits supervising the folding maneuver. One of them is on a red lift at the back right. There is a wall of HEPA filters behind the telescope.
Dressed in a clean room suit, NASA photographer Desiree Stover shines a light on the Space Environment Simulator's integration frame...
The silvery James Webb Space Telescope instrument module is enclosed in a metallic gold-colored structure. NASA photographer Desiree Stover stands to the left, holding some equipment and facing the hardware. She is wearing a white cleanroom suit. She and the hardware are inside a round, black chamber, which is inside Goddard’s large thermal vacuum chamber where the instrument is tested at its extremely cold operating temperatures.
On May 19, 2016, inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Webb’s Integrated Science Instrument Module...
Webb’s instrument module is integrated onto the back of the telescope, right behind the mirrors. The telescope is facedown on a white stand, with the golden mirrors facing down. The secondary mirror support structure is folded over the mirrors, with the round back of the secondary mirrors facing the camera. Behind it is a black radiator panel. The instrument module is being lowered by a crane. The 4 science instruments are visible through the module structure. In the background is a wall of HEPA filters that help keep the NASA Goddard cleanroom clean.
Taken on Nov. 16, 2016, inside NASA Goddard’s largest clean room Webb’s Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science Instrument Module...
The Webb telescope mirrors are shown in the NASA Goddard cleanroom, with a clean tent, which looks like a giant rectangle made of clear plastic tarp, half over the mirrors. A crane is lowering it down. The mirrors are gold hexagons. The three on each side wing are folded back like a drop leaf table. The telescope is being prepped for vibration testing. For testing, it has to be removed from the cleanroom, so the tent will protect it while it is being tested. There are multiple people in white cleanroom suits that cover them from head to toe and protect the cleanroom from hair and skin cells and contaminants on clothes. Two of the people are on a blue lift to the right of the telescope, and one on a red and silver left to the left, inspecting the work. There is a yellow ladder at far left. There are various white support structures. The wall at far right is covered in HEPA filters. The very large cleanroom door is directly behind the telescope.
On June 20, 2017, Webb’s Optical Telescope Element and science instruments were loaded into the historic thermal vacuum testing facility...
The Webb telescope enters the giant Chamber A thermal vacuum chamber at NASA Johnson. At this point, Webb consists of mirrors and instruments but has not yet been mated with the sunshield or spacecraft bus. Webb is on its back, golden hexagonal mirrors face up. The secondary mirror support structure is extended like a tripod above the primary mirrors. The telescope lies on black and silver support equipment. It is half in the giant mouth of the cavernous test chamber. The chamber is filled with test equipment and people in cleanroom suits. One of them stands on top of a red ladder.
On Sept. 16, 2021, Webb was ready to be shipped to the launch site in French Guiana. Before Webb could...
Several cleanroom technicians stand and watch as the Webb telescope, in its folded configuration, is being lifted and horizontally tilted towards the right side. When folded, Webb’s purple, metallic pallets surround its hexagonal, gold-coated mirror segments, making a long rectangle shape. The technicians wear blue gloves and white contamination-control suits that have the blue Northrop Grumman logo on the back. This image was taken in the Northrop Grumman cleanroom, which features a blue line running across its bright white walls.
This never-before-seen image shows engineers and technicians disassembling ground hardware after completing one of the final lifts of the Webb...
Image taken in a cleanroom at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Dozens of cleanroom technicians, wearing white contamination-control suits and blue gloves, stand towards the left side of this image. On the right side is the Webb telescope in its folded configuration. Its purple sunshield pallets enclose its hexagonal, gold-colored mirror segments. Other hardware, wires, and equipment are located around the cleanroom, which features bright white walls.
“Liftoff – from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, James Webb begins a voyage back to the...
Webb’s Ariane 5 rocket launches from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. A glowing, white-yellow stream of gas and fire is streaming from the rocket towards the ground below. The ground is covered with puffy clouds of pink-orange gas. In the background, lit up by the launch, is a building that is emblazoned with dark blue European Space Agency (ESA) and Ariane logos. The sky is a dark blue-gray and largely cloudy.
FGS/NIRISS was built by the Canadian Space Agency.
FGS engineering diagram"
NIRSpec Engineering Diagram
NIRSpec Engineering Diagram
James Webb Space Telescope NIRSpec Upgrades Complete!
From left to right: Ralf Ehrenwinkler (Airbus DS), Frank Merkle (Airbus DS), Kai Hoffmann (Airbus DS), Robert Eder (Airbus DS), Max Speckmaier (Airbus DS) and Maurice te Plate (ESA)
NIRSpec's microshutter cells, each approximately as wide as a human hair, have lids that open and close when a magnetic...
Closeup of microshutter array
MIRI Engineering Diagram
MIRI Engineering Diagram
JWST Team Photo with Completed Flight Instrument module
JWST Team Photo with Completed Flight Instrument module"
Installation of MIRI into the instrument module.
Key Science Instrument Installed into Webb Structure.
NIRCam Engineering Diagram
An image of the NIRCam Engineering Diagram
Group photo of JWST project members with the complete Integrated Science Instrument Module.
JWST Team Photo with Completed Flight Instrument module
The flight Near-Infrared Camera was installed into the flight Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) for the James Webb Space Telescope.
NIRCam being installed into the instrument module.
The NIRCAM operates over a wavelength range of 0.6 to 5 microns.
An image of Webb's iInstrument infrared sensitivity wavelength ranges.
This image shows what the The OTE Consists Of.
OTE engineering diagram
The OTIS (OTE+ISIM) out of cryovac chamber at NASA Johnson. The OTIS is an acronym that includes the OTE plus...
The OTIS out of cryovac chamber at NASA Johnson.
Engineering Diagram 4 Spacecraft bus"
Engineering Diagram 4 of the Spacecraft bus"
Engineering Diagram 3 Spacecraft bus
Engineering Diagram 3 of the Spacecraft bus
Engineering Diagram 2 Spacecraft bus
Engineering Diagram 2 of the Spacecraft bus
Engineering Diagram 1 Spacecraft bus
Engineering Diagram 1 of the Spacecraft bus
At Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems facilities in Redondo Beach, Calif., integration and test technicians work on a mock-up of the...
Test technicians work on a mock-up of the James Webb Space Telescope spacecraft bus
This x-ray diagram of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows where the backplane support frame (BSF) is in relation to...
Diagram showing the Backplane Support Fixture (BSF)
The Deployable Tower Array at the base of the telescope structure
The Deployable Tower Assembly
The first mirror is installed on the flight telescope structure
NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Receives First Mirror Installation
Inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's giant clean room in Greenbelt, Md., JWST Optical Engineer Larkin Carey examines two test...
Engineer Larkin Carey examines two test mirror segments
The Pathfinder about to be moved into Chamber A for cryo tests.
JWST Pathfinder in front of Chamber A
The completed primary mirror on the flight telescope structure at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The black covers on the...
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Fully Assembled
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, emerged from Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec....
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope combined science instruments and optical element
Technicians complete the primary mirror backplane support structure wing assemblies for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at ATK's Space Components...
The James Webb Space Telescope gets its wings
Engineers at ATK work on the now-completed center section of the "backplane" support structure that will hold Webb's mirror segments
James Webb Space Telescope Flight Backplane Structure
Images from our exciting week in August - opening the shipping crate containing the James Webb Space Telescope's flight backplane,...
James Webb Space Telescope Telescope Structure Arrival
The flight structure of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was standing tall on a platform in the cleanroom at NASA's...
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Structure Stands Tall
ISIM's three regions.
ISIM Components within the Observatory
The back view of James Webb Telescope
JWST Back view
A rare view of the instruments being lowered into the Webb telescope at NASA/Goddard. Webb's science instruments were installed in...
ISIM being installed on webb
A piece of Kapton showing ripstop seaming.
Kapton for the Sunshield
The Sunshield on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the largest part of the observatory—five layers of thin membrane that...
NASA's Webb Sunshield Stacks Up to Test!
The layers work together to reduce the temperatures between the hot and cold sides of the observatory by approximately 570...
Final Sunshield Layer Completed for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
Diagram of Cross-Section of Webb's Five-Layer Sunshield.
Graphic titled "Cross-Section of Webb's Five-Layer Sunshield" that demonstrates how the layers block the heat of the sun from getting through to the cold side of the telescope.
Stretched out like a silver kite, the five-layer sunshield for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits in a cleanroom at...
The Flight Sunshield at Northrop Grumman
A team of engineers and technicians from NASA and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., prepare to load...
A team of engineers and technicians put Webb telescope though Mirror Segment Cryogenic Testing
Engineers from Ball Aerospace inspect the first James Webb Space Telescope mirror segment upon its arrival at Marshall Space Flight...
Primary Mirror Segment Cryogenic Testing
The James Webb Space Telescope's Mirrors
This image shows the four different types of mirrors on the Webb telescope.
The engineering design unit primary mirror segment (flight spare) coated in gold by Quantum Coating Incorporated.
Jame Webb's Gold-coated primary mirror EDU
An engineer stands in front of the gold-coated primary mirror EDU
An engineer stands in front of the gold-coated primary mirror EDU
The secondary mirror went through a similar process - here it is after being gold-coated by Quantum Coating Incorporated.
Gold-coated primary mirror EDU
Technicians and scientists check out one of the Webb telescope's first two flight mirrors in the clean room at NASA's...
Technicians and scientists are part of the Flight Mirror Segment Inspection
Four of the finished mirrors that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight...
Webb Telescope Mirror Canisters
Engineers and technicians moved the James Webb Space Telescope structure inside the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center...
Lifting the James Webb Space Telescope inside cleanroom
Inside the massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope's telescope...
James Webb Space Telescope Structure Poised for Mirror Assembly
Inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team...
The last James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Segment
The gold-covered primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope, revealed in the cleanroom at NASA Goddard.
An image "Goldeneye" view of James Webb Telescope
Here's a view from overhead of the golden James Webb Space Telescope, with its secondary mirror booms stowed. This is...
An overhead image of the golden James Webb Space Telescope, with its secondary mirror booms stowed
James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Seen in Full Bloom
NASA technicians lifted the telescope using a crane and moved it inside a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits inside Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after having completed its...
Webb sitting inside Chamber A after it completed cryogenic testing.
Primary Mirror Segment Engineering Design Unit
Polished engineering design unit mirror at SSG/Tinsley.
A James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror segment blank. This image shows the back of the mirror blank, which is...
Primary Mirror Segment Blank
The front of an unpolished mirror blank.
An image of James Webb's Mirror Blank
The Brush Wellman team and the mirror blanks.
An image of the Mirror Segments and its Brush Wellman team
A marble-sized piece of Beryllium.
An image of a piece of beryllium that is the size of a marble
These diagrams show the back of the mirrors and the actuators.
The Anatomy of a JWST Mirror
Diagram of the anatomy of a James Webb Space Telescope Mirror.
An image of the the back of a JWST mirror
Each of Webb's mirrors has an individual designation. A, B, or C denotes which of the three mirror prescriptions a...
The photos show the flight version of every mirror on the telescope! mirrors
The different colors denote one of three different optical prescriptions for Webb's mirror.
JWST mirror assembly segment
The James Webb Space Telescope is shown with one of its two "wings" folded. Each wing holds three of its...
webb's primary mirror with one wing folded back.
JWST Primary mirror compared to Hubble Primary Mirror
JWST and Hubble mirror comparison
Engineers Matt Macias and Eve Woolridge take a close look at the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror at NASA...
A image of James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror at NASA Goddard.
The world’s most powerful space science telescope has opened its primary mirror for the last time on Earth.
Webb’s Golden Mirror Wings Open
In a recent test, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its primary mirror into the same configuration it will...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Full Mirror Deployment a Success
During the sunshield folding process for the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of technicians carefully fold each layer in...
Engineers working on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
In a recent test, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its primary mirror into the same configuration it will...
An engineer looks up at the James Webb Space Telescope's Folding MIrrors
What’s the best way to make a really powerful telescope? Build a big mirror! The James Webb Space Telescope has...
James Webb Space Telescope Assembled Observatory Full Mirror Deployment Test
The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies....
An image of the powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope
This is a photo of one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments coated with gold by Quantum...
A Engineer looks over one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments.
Ball Aerospace optical technician Scott Murray inspects the first gold primary mirror segment, a critical element of NASA's James Webb...
An engineer over looks the Gold-coated Primary Mirror Segment of the James Webb Telescope.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, emerged from Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec....
Webb Telescope Emerges from Chamber A After Cryogenic Testing.
On Saturday, Dec. 11, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will...
Engineer work on as Webb Placed on Top of Ariane 5
Webb is now in its final series of deployment and checkout tests before the observatory is packed for shipment to...
NASA’s Webb Sunshield Successfully Unfolds and Tensions in Final Tests
A fully assembled Webb Telescope, propped by support structures, takes up the space inside the Northrop Grumman cleanroom. In the...
NASA’s Webb Sunshield Successfully Unfolds and Tensions in Final Tests
With the completion of its latest series of milestone tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has now survived all of...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Completes Environmental Testing
This is an archival image from October 2019, when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope View of October 2019 Sunshield Deployment Testing
Technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Clears Critical Sunshield Deployment Testing
Technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Clears Critical Sunshield Deployment Testing
The flight structure of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was standing tall on a platform in the cleanroom at NASA's...
An engineer stands on a ladder next to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Structure.
The most powerful and complex space telescope ever created by humankind has achieved its final form as a fully assembled...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Has Been Assembled for the First Time
This image was taken at Northrop Grumman. The optical portion of the telescope is complete, seen here, and is being...
Engineers Prep James Webb Telescope for Integration
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, is seen at the launch pad, Thursday, Dec. 23,...
Ariane 5 with James Webb Space Telescope Prelaunch
As part of the NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s final tests, the 6.5 meter (21 feet 4 inch) mirror was...
Engineers look on as James Webb’s Golden Mirror Wings Open One Last Time on Earth.
Recently inside the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, engineers successfully completed two deployments for...
James Webb Space Telescope 'Wings' Successfully Deployed
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, is seen in the final assembly building ahead of...
Prelaunch of Ariane 5 with James Webb Space Telescope
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch...
James Webb Space Telescope Launch
A technician examines the backplane pathfinder – a flight-like model of the center section of the Webb telescope backplane used...
A technician examines the backplane pathfinder
James Webb Space Telescope Launch onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe’s Spaceport at the...
James Webb Space Telescope Launch
The robotic arm lifts and lowers a golden James Webb Space Telescope flight spare primary mirror segment onto a test...
Webb Telescope Crew Flexes Robotic Arm at NASA
Humanity’s final look at the James Webb Space Telescope as it heads into deep space.
Last Glimpse of the James Webb Space Telescope before it goes deep into space.
Inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team...
The last James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Segment
Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch...
James Webb Space Telescope Launch
Walk Out of the James Webb Space Telescope Secondary Mirror Support Structure
This photo shows the first time that the optically complete telescope (18 primary mirror segments, the secondary mirror, and the Aft Optics Subsystem which contains the tertiary mirror) was placed in a deployed configuration.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun its stately rollout to the Arianespace ELA-3 launch complex at Europe’s Spaceport located...
NASA, Partners Roll Out Webb to Launch Pad
The telescope is seen hanging from a crane, in the process of being moved over the sunshield.
This photo from Northrop Grumman's clean room in Redondo Beach, California shows the start of the integration process of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Technicians and engineers working to ensure the soundness of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope manually lower its folded sunshield layers...
Technicians Lay NASA's Webb Sunshield Layers Flat for Inspection
James Webb Space Telescope Assembled Observatory Full Mirror Deployment Test
James Webb telescope duing its Deployment Test
On Friday 17 December, the Ariane 5 rocket fairing was closed around the James Webb Space Telescope. This protective fairing,...
Webb is encapsulated in its rocket fairing
James Webb Space Telescope on Launcher
This image shows the James Webb Space Telescope atop its launch vehicle
Archival Image: Webb's Mirror in the Goddard Cleanroom
Archival image of the James Webb Space Telescope's mirror
The James Webb Space Telescope Folds Its Wings
The James Webb Space Telescope is shown with one of its two “wings" folded.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the first of its kind “open” style telescope that relies on innovative space shielding...
An engineer looks over he James Webb Space Telescope
Engineers Matt Macias and Eve Woolridge take a close look at the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror at NASA...
Low Light James Webb Space Telescope
The world’s most powerful space science telescope has opened its primary mirror for the last time on Earth.
Webb’s Golden Mirror Wings Open One Last Time on Earth
The James Webb Space Telescope captured this light curve of the brightness of WASP-96 b’s parent star over time. As...
NASA’s Webb Reveals Steamy Atmosphere of Distant Planet in Detail