Story by
Eric Villard
Released on January 22, 2018
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s gold-plated, beryllium mirrors are beautiful feats of engineering. From the 18 hexagonal primary mirror segments, to the perfectly circular secondary mirror, to the slightly trapezoidal tertiary mirror, each reflector went through a rigorous refinement process before it was ready to mount on the telescope. This critical formation process had to be flawless. Webb will use the mirrors to peer far back in time to capture the first luminous objects and the creation of the first stars and galaxies. Watch the video to see how Webb’s mirrors were made.