👉 The engineering behind the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is truly remarkable, involving several unconventional and complex elements. One of the most striking features is its segmented mirror composed of 18 hexagonal gold-coated beryllium segments, each precisely shaped and polished to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. These segments can be individually adjusted to form a single, 6.5-meter-wide mirror, allowing JWST to capture incredibly detailed images of distant galaxies and exoplanets. Additionally, the telescope's sunshield is a five-layered, tennis-court-sized structure designed to block heat and light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon, maintaining the telescope's extremely cold operating temperature of around -223°C (-370°F) necessary for its infrared observations. This intricate design, combining advanced materials and precise engineering, enables JWST to peer deeper into the universe than ever before, offering unprecedented insights into its origins and evolution.
