James Webb horror as £8.4bn NASA space telescope damaged by meteorite collision

NASA scientists are thrilled by the possibilities the JWST holds, as it could help solve some of the universe’s deepest mysteries, like the enormous black hole called Sagittarius Aor Sgr A that lies in the centre of the Milky Way.

However, a paper published on Tuesday on the academic preprint server arxiv.org revealed that most of the micrometeoroid strikes on James Webb’s big mirror had resulted in negligible damage.

Unfortunately, the report warned that one strike in mid-May from a micrometeoroid left the expensive telescope with permanent damage.

The authors wrote: “The single micrometeorite impact that occurred between 22 — 24 May 2022 UT exceeded prelaunch expectations of damage for a single micrometeoroid triggering further investigation and modelling by the JWST Project.”

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1641522/james-webb-horror-nasa-10-billion-space-telescope-damaged-meteorite-collision