With James Webb's MIRI instrument now cooled to its operating temperature, the telescope is approaching its final temperature as it mirrors cool as well.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is nearing completion of the seventh and final step in its alignment process. With its MIRI instrument now cooled to its operating temperature, the telescope is approaching its final, chilly overall temperature as it mirrors cool as well.
One of the problems that designers of space missions need to address is that most materials change shape as they cool. If the mirror segments were made of glass, for example, they would warp as their temperatures changed, meaning the careful work of aligning the mirror would be lost. That’s why the mirror is made of beryllium, which has a property called low thermal expansion, meaning it changes shape very little when heated.
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