Universe  ID: 14006

Elements of Webb: Beryllium Part 2 Ep04

So Utah is home to many valuable materials – copper, magnesium, uranium, gold and silver. But most of the world’s beryllium is mined here. And engineers chose beryllium for Webb’s mirrors because it is lightweight, it is strong and it is dimensionally stable.

We are actually standing on the beryllium ore seam. Beryllium is in the volcanic ash dust. It was hydrothermally deposited millions of years ago and then coved by volcanic rock. We have to remove the volcanic rock on top of the ore seam and then use a scraper and a bulldozer to extract the ore that we’re standing on top of. 90% of the beryllium that was mined in the world came from this deposit.
 

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Credits

Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Lead Lead Producer
Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Lead Writer
Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Lead Editor
Sophia Roberts (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer
Michael McClare (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Editor
Michael McClare (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Videographer
Scott Rogers: Lead Drone Operator
Michael P. Menzel (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer
Michael P. Menzel (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Production Assistant
Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Animator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Animator
Bailee DesRocher (USRA): Animator
Jacquelyn DeMink (USRA): Animator
Krystofer Kim (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Animator
Jonathan North (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Animator
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Lead Technical Support
Greg Gregory: Subject Expert
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center