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The US space agency NASA’s new space telescope has passed the last, decisive, and difficult step.

Credits: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez.

The James Webb telescope unfolded the huge, flower-shaped mirror on Saturday, which will try to capture the secrets of space and which the researchers call the GoldenEye.

– I’m emotionally taken. It was a fantastic milestone. We see its beautiful patterns out there in space, says Thomas Zurbruchen, head of NASA’s research department.

The telescope with a reflective flower of 6.5 meters had to be folded in to be brought into space with the rocket launched from South America two weeks ago. The development of the mirror began from the air traffic control in Baltimore on Friday, when the left side was unfolded.

On Saturday, the right side of the mirror folded out, like a folding table folded according to Japanese origami. Previously, the sunscreen, as big as a tennis court, was developed over two days.

James Webb, named after a former head of Nasa, will replace the Hubble Space Telescope but, unlike its predecessor, will not be in orbit around the Earth – but around the sun.

The new telescope will be parked in orbit 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. The telescope is robust, with observations in a much larger part of the infrared light spectrum than its predecessor, Hubble. The resolution will be higher, and thus the researchers can look forward to new information about the first stars and galaxies.

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