NASA’s Webb telescope mirror was hit by a micrometeoroid

As per NASA, one of the 18 golden segments of the James Webb Space Telescope‘s giant mirror was hit by a micrometeoroid in May.

However, the space observatory is still on track to share full-colour glimpses on July 12.

A micrometeoroid is a particle in space that is smaller than a grain of sand. Earth’s atmosphere is hit by millions of meteoroids and micrometeoroids on a regular basis, but most are vaporized when they hit the atmosphere, as per NASA.

However, spacecraft don’t have a protective bubble of atmosphere around them, so it’s almost impossible to avoid these impacts.

The Webb telescope sustained such an impact between May 23 and 25, but “the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data,” as per the Webb team.

The team is continuing to analyze and assess what happened and how it may affect the telescope’s performance. It’s also likely the first of many such experiences that Webb will have over its time in space.

The May impact event was larger than anything the team tested or would have been able to model while Webb was still on the ground. NASA Webb Telescope micrometeoroid

“We always knew that Webb would have to weather the space environment, which includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the Sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy, and occasional strikes by micrometeoroids within our solar system. We designed and built Webb with performance margin, optical, thermal, electrical, mechanical, to ensure it can perform its ambitious science mission even after many years in space,” said Paul Geithner, technical deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement.

Fortunately, each hexagonal mirror segment is fully adjustable, and the impacted segment has already been adjusted to lessen some of the distortions. This is something engineers can continue to do in the future as they monitor Webb’s mirror for any signs of degradation in the space environment.

Source: Agencies NASA Webb Telescope micrometeoroid