Starboard Primary Mirror Wing Deployment Underway

The Webb mission operations team has given the ‘go-ahead’ to move forward with the extension of its starboard primary mirror panel. This is the last of the major deployments on the observatory, and its completion will set the stage for the remaining five and a half months of commissioning, which consist of settling into stable operating temperature, aligning the mirrors, and calibrating the science instruments.

Live coverage of the deployment, from the Webb Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, will stream on nasa.gov/live starting no earlier than 9 a.m. EST.