Behind the Webb: Great Plane (Episode 11, May 2011) @NASAWebbTelescope

Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Release Date: May 5, 2011

Webb's 18 separate mirror segments will be held in place by a graphite structure called a backplane. This one-of-a-kind piece needs to be thermally stable to -400 degrees Fahrenheit (-204 degrees Celsius), and hold Webb's mirror segments steady to within one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. Engineers at ATK in Magna, Utah, take us through the process of designing and creating the backplane.

Credit: NASA, Mary Estacion (STScI)

Behind the Webb: Great Plane (Episode 11, May 2011)

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