The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Wednesday that the micrometerite fell into the main mirror section of the telescope from May 23 to May 25.
However, NASA emphasized that the telescope was still operating at a level that exceeded all mission requirements.
The mirror was designed to withstand micrometeorite impacts, and NASA expected that micrometeorite impacts would worsen the telescope’s performance over time.
The telescope previously withstood the impact of four smaller micrometeorites, but in May it crashed into an even larger micrometeorite than expected.
The James Webb Web Space Telescope, built by the European Space Agency, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, was launched by the European launcher Ariane V on December 25, 2021 from Coronian Spit, French Guiana.
It is about 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope. Scientists hope it will provide insight into the first galaxies to form in the early universe.
The telescope was scheduled to be launched into space in 2018, but the completion of the telescope was delayed and the launch was delayed several times.
The telescope is named after former NASA chief James Webb.
The telescope took about 30 years to build and cost about ten billion US dollars.
Launched in 1990, it is three times the size of the Hubble Telescope, weighs 6,100 kilograms and has a mirror diameter of 6.5 meters.
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