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Development
The James Webb Telescope took 30 years and ten billion dollars to build. Construction started in 2004 and was completed in November of 2016 and was then finally sent off into space in December of 2021. It took over 1200 engineers from 14 different counties to build. Although, in total around 20,000 had a hand in working on the project for almost 20 years,
The engineers aided in developing the telescope had to create various new technologies. Engineers found that transferring the telescope would be easier by fitting 18 small mirrors together that are able to fold into each other. This process of assembling mirrors after launch is called Wavefront Sensing and Control. In addition to mirros a sunshield was also used to reduce the temperatures of the spacecraft to help the critical parts of the telescope — such as the camera — protected from heat.
partners
"Webb has been an international collaboration since the beginning. In addition to the United States, 13 countries are involved in building the Webb telescope..."
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