Narrated Walkthrough of the Webb Telescope's Launch and Deployment @TelescopeFeed

Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

The greatest origin story of all unfolds with the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb's launch is a pivotal moment that exemplifies the dedication, innovation, and ambition behind NASA and its partners, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA), but it is only the beginning. The 29 days following liftoff will be an exciting but harrowing time. Thousands of parts must work correctly, in sequence, to unfold Webb and put it in its final configuration. All while Webb flies through the expanse of space, alone, to a destination nearly one million miles away from Earth. As the largest and most complex telescope ever sent into space, the James Webb Space Telescope is a technological marvel. By necessity, Webb takes on-orbit deployments to the extreme. Each step can be controlled expertly from the ground, giving Webb's Mission Operations Center full control to circumnavigate any unforseen issues with deployment.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Narrated Walkthrough of the Webb Telescopes Launch and Deployment

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$James Webb Space Telescopes NIRSpec Integral Field Units Principle Animation The NIRSpec instrument is the workhorse near-infrared spectrograph on board the James Webb Space Telescope and is provided by ESA. NIRSpec can make spectroscopic observations of complex targets in space, such as galaxies, nebulae, or crowded fields of stars or galaxies, in one single shot. One technology it uses is that of ‘integral field units’ (IFUs). Here, an image-slicing technique is used to reorganise the signal from a two-dimensional image of the sky into a set of slices. These slices are fed to a spectrograph that generates a spectrum for each pixel, where the light is split into its different wavelengths. The slices are then arranged into a data cube. This cube is a stack of many images of the same target object in space, each at a different wavelength, and provides a comprehensive overview of the whole object under study. This animation shows the path followed by light from an astronomical object as it travels through the NIRSpec components and onto the detector. ~ 0:22 min: The light from the telescope enters NIRSpec via the Pick-off Mirror ~ 0.27 min: The second flat mirror directs the beam towards the FORE optics that form an image of the sky onto the Micro Shutter Assembly (MSA). ~ 0:36 min: The light passes through a Filter Wheel Assembly (FWA) for selecting specific wavelength bands and through the refocusing mechanism (RMA). ~ 0:42 min: A sharp image of the sky is formed onto the MSA. ~ 0:49 min: With MSA shutters all closed a small portion of light passes through the now open IFU entrance aperture. ~ 0:52 min: Two small flat mirrors and two powered mirrors form a magnified image of the IFU field of view onto the “slicer” mirror. ~ 1.01 min: The slicer mirror creates 30 new beams, each for a specific fraction of the IFU field of view. ~ 1:05 min: 30 individual beams exit the IFU and enter the NIRSpec spectrometer optics. ~ 1:12 min: The collimator optics brings the beam to the Grating Wheel Assembly (GWA). ~ 1:15 min: The Grating or Prism unravels the incoming beam in all its wavelengths by dispersing it vertically. ~ 1:18 min: The Camera optical system forms 30 spectra (one for each individual IFU beam) onto the detector. Spaxel: Spatial Element (as opposed to a pixel which is a picture element). Is one 3D element of the IFU cube (x, y, wavelength). It is a spectrum at a certain point of the IFU image. Counts: The count of photons that were received by the detector for this specific wavelength. NIRSpec will allow scientists to study objects embedded in shrouds of gas and dust, to find out more about how galaxies formed and evolved, and to characterize the atmospheres of extrasolar planets to determine if water is present. Source: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2021/09/Webb_NIRSpec_integral_field_units_principle_animation$

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