Engineers have begun the final stage of Webb's major structural deployments: the unfolding of its two primary mirror wings. These side panels, which were folded back for launch, each hold three of the observatory's 18 hexagonal, gold-coated mirror segments.

The team is beginning today with the mirror wing on the port (left) side of the observatory. Engineers must first release mechanisms that held the wing in place for launch, in order to allow the wing to deploy. The panel then rotates into position, a motor-driven process that takes about five minutes. Once the wing is extended, engineers begin a meticulous, two-hour process to securely latch it into place.

The deployment of the second primary mirror wing, planned for tomorrow, will follow the same process.

At about 8:48 a.m. EST, a specialized radiator assembly necessary for Webb's science instruments to reach their required low and stable operating temperatures deployed successfully. The Aft Deployable Instrument Radiator, or ADIR, is a large, rectangular, 4- by 8-foot panel, consisting of high-purity aluminum subpanels covered in painted honeycomb cells to create an ultra-black surface. The ADIR, which swings away from the backside of the telescope like a trap door on hinges, is connected to the instruments via flexible straps made of high-purity aluminum foil. The radiator draws heat out of the instruments and dumps it overboard to the extreme cold background of deep space.

The deployment of the ADIR—a process that released a lock to allow the panel to spring into position—took about 15 minutes.

Webb's final series of major deployments is planned to start tomorrow, Jan. 7, with the rotation into position of the first of two primary mirror wings. The second primary mirror wing—Webb's final major spacecraft deployment—is planned for Saturday, Jan. 8.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is collecting samples in search of signs of ancient microbial life, which would advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The samples are set to return to Earth no earlier than 2031, as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign being planned by NASA and the European Space Agency. Before the rover went to space, NASA and its engineers worked hard to prevent Earth's microbes from contaminating Mars. Now, before the samples collected by the rover return to Earth, Florida Atlantic University is helping NASA design protocols for sterilizing Mars material and protecting our biosphere.

Gregg Fields, Ph.D., executive director of FAU's Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention (I-HEALTH) and a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, is working in collaboration with a team of scientists to ensure a "microbe-free" return of Mars samples in a vessel with multiple layers of protection.

As NASA's James Webb Space Telescope makes its way out to its intended orbit, ground teams monitor its vitals using a comprehensive set of sensors located throughout the entire spacecraft. Mechanical, thermal, and electrical sensors provide a wide array of critical information on the current state and performance of Webb while it is in space.

A system of surveillance cameras to watch deployments was considered for inclusion in Webb's toolkit of diagnostics and was studied in-depth during Webb's design phase, but ultimately, this was rejected.

"Adding cameras to watch an unprecedently complicated deployment of such a precious spacecraft as Webb sounds like a no-brainer, but in Webb's case, there's much more to it than meets the eye," said Paul Geithner, deputy project manager—technical for the Webb telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "It's not as straightforward as adding a doorbell cam or even a rocket cam."

First of all, Webb is big, undergoes many configuration changes during deployment, and has many specific locations of import to deployment.