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Magazine Issue

Aviation Week & Space Technology 2010-03-08

VOL. 172 NO. 10 March 08, 2010

Space

article

Webb Telescope Mirror Passes Cryo Test

Mar 08, 2010
After 53 months of cutting, polishing and testing, the first flightworthy primary mirror segment for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has passed a critical mission-readiness review of its cryogenic performance. The test showed that a contracting team spread across five states knows how to convert powdered beryllium into a mirror polished to a tolerance of just 20 nanometers (a piece of typing paper is 100,000 nanometers thick).