James Webb's First Year: Images That Rewrote What We Know

On January 8, 2022, engineers at the Space Telescope Science Institute watched as Webb's second primary mirror wing slowly rotated into its final deployed position — one of 50 major deployment steps required to transform the folded spacecraft into a fully functional observatory. This image shows NASA's Webb Commissioning Manager John Durning monitoring the telemetry as the mirror clicked into place. Each of the 18 hexagonal mirror segments had to be individually aligned to nanometre precision in the weeks that followed — an engineering achievement with no precedent in the history of space telescopes.

NASA Timeline Coordinator Andria Hagedorn monitors the deployment of Webb's second mirror wing from Mission Operations at STScI in Baltimore. Each step in the deployment sequence had been rehearsed thousands of times in simulation, but the actual event carried a tension that simulation could never fully replicate — because there would be no second chance. Webb was designed with no servicing capability; whatever configuration it was in when it reached its destination 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, that would be its permanent configuration. The successful completion of all deployments was, according to many engineers involved, the most emotional moment of their professional lives.

On December 23, 2021, the Ariane 5 rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope rolled out to its launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana — the beginning of the final countdown. Webb's 25-year development had been marked by cost overruns, schedule delays, and two congressional votes to cancel it entirely. That it reached this pad at all was a testament to the persistence of the scientific community that had advocated for it since the late 1990s. NASA Program Scientist Eric Smith, who had worked on Webb for most of his career, waited for the rollout wearing socks printed with Webb's mirror pattern.

The Ariane 5 rocket stood on the launch pad at Kourou for three days before its scheduled Christmas Day launch, an almost incongruous sight: a 77-metre rocket bearing the world's most expensive telescope in what looks like a tropical jungle setting. The Guiana Space Centre sits just 5 degrees north of the equator, giving rockets launched from there a free boost from Earth's rotational speed, reducing the fuel required to reach orbit. Webb launched on December 25, 2021, at 7:20 AM Eastern Time, and separated from the rocket perfectly 27 minutes later.

NASA Webb Project Manager Bill Ochs, middle, monitors the mirror deployment alongside Mission Operations Manager Carl Starr and Mission Operations Engineer Kenny McKenzie. Ochs had managed the Webb project through some of its most difficult years, including a congressionally mandated independent review in 2010 that proposed cancellation and a subsequent rebaselining that added years and billions of dollars to the schedule. Standing in that control room watching the mirrors deploy successfully was, by all accounts, an experience that reduced grown adults to tears.

NASA Webb Ground Engineer Evan Adams monitors the observatory's second primary mirror wing deployment from Mission Operations. The deployment required precisely calibrated motor actuators to rotate the mirror segment to within a fraction of a degree of its designed position — a tolerance that, in a car engine, would be considered impossible to maintain. Adams was one of dozens of engineers whose years of preparation and rehearsal made the deployment sequence feel, in the control room, almost routine. Almost.

This view shows another moment in the Webb mirror wing deployment sequence, with engineers at multiple consoles tracking the real-time telemetry from 1.5 million kilometres away. The communication delay of about five seconds meant that every command took five seconds to reach the spacecraft and another five seconds for confirmation to return — a small but ever-present reminder of the distances involved. The successful completion of all 344 single-point-failure mechanisms during deployment was described by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson as "the greatest engineering feat in history."

A quiet pre-dawn image of the Ariane 5 rocket with Webb aboard, standing in the pale light before its Christmas Day launch. The rocket's white and yellow colour scheme was familiar from two decades of Ariane launches, but its payload was anything but routine. Hidden inside the fairing at the top of the rocket was an observatory that, when fully deployed and cooled, would be capable of detecting the heat signature of a bumblebee at the distance of the Moon. Three days after this image was taken, Webb was on its way to a point in space where no repair mission would ever be possible.

The team at Webb Mission Operations works through the mirror deployment sequence with focused intensity. This image captures the human side of a technological achievement that is easy to reduce to abstractions — billions of dollars, nanometre precision, 13 billion light-years. But it was these specific people, in this specific room, on these specific nights, who made it happen. Many of them had spent a decade or more of their careers on the Webb project; some had been working on it since before the components visible in the room had been designed, let alone built and launched.

On January 8, 2022, engineers at the Space Telescope Science Institute watched as Webb's second primary mirror wing slowly rotated into its final deployed position — one of 50 major deployment steps required to transform the folded spacecraft into a fully functional observatory. This image shows NASA's Webb Commissioning Manager John Durning monitoring the telemetry as the mirror clicked into place. Each of the 18 hexagonal mirror segments had to be individually aligned to nanometre precision in the weeks that followed — an engineering achievement with no precedent in the history of space telescopes.

NASA Timeline Coordinator Andria Hagedorn monitors the deployment of Webb's second mirror wing from Mission Operations at STScI in Baltimore. Each step in the deployment sequence had been rehearsed thousands of times in simulation, but the actual event carried a tension that simulation could never fully replicate — because there would be no second chance. Webb was designed with no servicing capability; whatever configuration it was in when it reached its destination 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, that would be its permanent configuration. The successful completion of all deployments was, according to many engineers involved, the most emotional moment of their professional lives.

On December 23, 2021, the Ariane 5 rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope rolled out to its launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana — the beginning of the final countdown. Webb's 25-year development had been marked by cost overruns, schedule delays, and two congressional votes to cancel it entirely. That it reached this pad at all was a testament to the persistence of the scientific community that had advocated for it since the late 1990s. NASA Program Scientist Eric Smith, who had worked on Webb for most of his career, waited for the rollout wearing socks printed with Webb's mirror pattern.

The Ariane 5 rocket stood on the launch pad at Kourou for three days before its scheduled Christmas Day launch, an almost incongruous sight: a 77-metre rocket bearing the world's most expensive telescope in what looks like a tropical jungle setting. The Guiana Space Centre sits just 5 degrees north of the equator, giving rockets launched from there a free boost from Earth's rotational speed, reducing the fuel required to reach orbit. Webb launched on December 25, 2021, at 7:20 AM Eastern Time, and separated from the rocket perfectly 27 minutes later.

NASA Webb Project Manager Bill Ochs, middle, monitors the mirror deployment alongside Mission Operations Manager Carl Starr and Mission Operations Engineer Kenny McKenzie. Ochs had managed the Webb project through some of its most difficult years, including a congressionally mandated independent review in 2010 that proposed cancellation and a subsequent rebaselining that added years and billions of dollars to the schedule. Standing in that control room watching the mirrors deploy successfully was, by all accounts, an experience that reduced grown adults to tears.

NASA Webb Ground Engineer Evan Adams monitors the observatory's second primary mirror wing deployment from Mission Operations. The deployment required precisely calibrated motor actuators to rotate the mirror segment to within a fraction of a degree of its designed position — a tolerance that, in a car engine, would be considered impossible to maintain. Adams was one of dozens of engineers whose years of preparation and rehearsal made the deployment sequence feel, in the control room, almost routine. Almost.

This view shows another moment in the Webb mirror wing deployment sequence, with engineers at multiple consoles tracking the real-time telemetry from 1.5 million kilometres away. The communication delay of about five seconds meant that every command took five seconds to reach the spacecraft and another five seconds for confirmation to return — a small but ever-present reminder of the distances involved. The successful completion of all 344 single-point-failure mechanisms during deployment was described by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson as "the greatest engineering feat in history."

A quiet pre-dawn image of the Ariane 5 rocket with Webb aboard, standing in the pale light before its Christmas Day launch. The rocket's white and yellow colour scheme was familiar from two decades of Ariane launches, but its payload was anything but routine. Hidden inside the fairing at the top of the rocket was an observatory that, when fully deployed and cooled, would be capable of detecting the heat signature of a bumblebee at the distance of the Moon. Three days after this image was taken, Webb was on its way to a point in space where no repair mission would ever be possible.

The team at Webb Mission Operations works through the mirror deployment sequence with focused intensity. This image captures the human side of a technological achievement that is easy to reduce to abstractions — billions of dollars, nanometre precision, 13 billion light-years. But it was these specific people, in this specific room, on these specific nights, who made it happen. Many of them had spent a decade or more of their careers on the Webb project; some had been working on it since before the components visible in the room had been designed, let alone built and launched.