The threat of micro meteorite collisions could jeopardize the James Webb Telescope's ability to complete its mission

 The threat of micro meteorite collisions could jeopardize the James Webb Telescope's ability to complete its mission

The threat of micro meteorite collisions could jeopardize the James Webb Telescope's ability to complete its mission

A small meteor unexpectedly collided with one of the James Webb Space Telescope's main mirrors, with operators considering deflecting it in certain directions to reduce direct collisions in the future.

During the six-month period of testing the instruments, the James Webb telescope was exposed to at least six micrometeorites (space dust particles orbiting the sun). This was not unexpected because the universe is full of such small rocks and the team expected about one collision per month, but the meteorite that hit one of the telescope's main mirrors in May was larger than previously thought.

According to James Webb's July 12 performance report, this effect "caused a significant and irreversible change in the performance of this part... However, the effect was small at the telescope level as only a small portion of the telescope area was affected."

Thanks to the extremely precise control mechanism required to align the telescope's 18 mirrors, engineers were able to adjust the positions of the mirrors to significantly mitigate the impact of the micro-meteor.

However, many of these impacts can result in serious damage to the mirrors.

James Webb's team is now working on new models to find out how common such events are and how to deal with any damage they cause. This may also mean avoiding pointing the telescope in the direction you are going to avoid direct collisions.