James Webb Space Telescope backplane arrives at NASA Goddard for mirror assembly
Wednesday, August 26, 2015 - 17:30
in Astronomy & Space
One of the most crucial pieces of the James Webb Space Telescope, the flight backplane, arrived on Aug. 25, on schedule for Webb's 2018 launch date at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for mirror assembly. The backplane is the "spine" of the telescope, responsible for holding its 18 hexagonal mirrors and instruments steady while the telescope is looking into deep space.