Have you ever wondered how the biggest and most expensive telescope ever made was transported?
Yeah, I am talking about the James Webb Space Telescope…a reflecting telescope.., one
of the Most Expensive Telescopes ever built.
Well, the story of its transport is very interesting, so make sure you watch the video till the
end!!
Let’s talk about how the James Webb Space Telescope was transported from California
to the Space Center.
NASA's most expensive telescope is at the moment at its final destination, Lagrange
point 2, popularly known as the L2 orbit.
This is nearly 1.6 million kilometers away from the Earth!!
Now, before this successful launch of the Webb Telescope, it was transported from different
parts of the world to reach its destination!!
Back in the following years, The deployment of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was among
the most difficult and terrifying processes that any spacecraft may have gone through.
But, before Webb could even board its rocket to space, it had to finish its one last journey
on Earth which is a trip of almost 5,800 miles.
After leaving California on September 26 and traveling through the Panama Canal, Webb arrived
at the Port de Praia Cabo on October 12 in French Guiana located on the northeastern
coast of South America.
This port is situated on the Kourou River.
Now that Webb has been transported to its launch location, it will start two months
of operational preparations prior to its planned launch on December 18.
Everything about this mission of transport was unpredictable since it was carrying the
biggest and most powerful space telescope ever created.
Let's see what preparations were done for this transport.
Webb is not just a toy or something else that could be fitted in a box or a container…
it needs a big custom made suitcase to get carried safely to the launch location!
Webb is a unique telescope that needed a massive, custom made "suitcase" called STTARS, which
is professionally known as Space Telescope Transporter for Air, Road, and Sea.
STTARS is around 168,000 pounds in weight that is roughly around 76,000 kilograms.
It is roughly twice as long as a semi-trailer at 18 feet, 5.5 meters in height, 15 feet
which is 4.6 meters wide, and 110 feet that is 33.5 meters long.
This biggest container was prepared in such a way to deal with any harsh or worse circumstances
that might run across while traveling.
When creating, building, and testing STTARS, engineers extensively explored how to successfully
shield the container from severe rains and other weather conditions.
Now for a safe journey, Charting the Course is one another important thing.
Any journey requires a lot of planning and this one might need a lot.
With Webb, there were now additional difficulties involved in crossing two seas with a very
large and delicate space telescope.
One little problem might lead to the destruction of the most expensive telescope.
Webb's arrival in Kourou was the result of years of planning, according to Charlie Diaz,
manager of launch site operations at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Maryland: "There are just thousands of different things that go on behind the scenes: pulling
permits, avoiding obstructions, choosing alternate routes...all kinds of nuances.
Our team has been working on this for a while, and I'm really pleased with them."
Webb's ship journey will finally be divided into two brief drives, one in French Guiana
and one in California.
The first journey transported Webb from Northrop Grumman's offices on Redondo Beach, California,
to the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, which was close by.
The second drive will transport the Webb from the Port of Praia Cabo to the European Spaceport
in Kourou, where it will take its launch to space.
To further understand the variables involved, Diaz's team conducted the route assessments
using satellite photography before these drives to ensure a safe journey.
Details like potholes that needed to be patched or traffic signals that had to be raised because
of STTARs' height were documented.
The team also chose "safe havens," or locations along the journey where they could safely
conduct any necessary maintenance on the container in case of emergency so as to ensure that
the telescope must remain safe.
Due to its size and weight, STTARS could only maintain a smooth ride on the road by moving
at a pace of 5 to 10 miles per hour.
If the speed is increased, then there might be the risk of the telescope getting destroyed.
The STTARS previously flew the Webb components to different NASA or partner sites, but because
to the logistics of landing at the Cayenne Airport in French Guiana, the crew decided
to ship Webb to Kourou.
Seven bridges on the 40-mile (65-kilometer) route between the airport and the launch site
are too large for STTARS to pass.
A little distance separates Webb's launch spot from the Port of Pariacabo as well.
In contrast, it would have taken nearly two days to go from the Cayenne Airport to the
launch location, taking into account the STTARS's poor speeds and other limitations.
Webb found sailing to be fairly easy compared to the turbulence of air travel and the forces
experienced after landing while aboard the cargo transport ship MN Colibri.
To transport large rocket components and sensitive payloads to Europe's spaceport, also known
as the Guiana Space Center, the MN Colibri spacecraft was specifically designed.
The ship generally sailed at 15 knots, or 17 miles per hour.
Sandra Irish, Webb's chief structural engineer at Goddard, was in charge of ensuring that
no stresses went beyond what was considered to be accepted.
She and her team worked hard with the crew and the shipping business to plan an ocean
path for STTARS that avoided the choppy waters.
Running a Clean Ship, this might be one the most important things of all.
Webb must be kept clean while it is on Earth, just like the other spacecraft.
In essence, STTARS is a portable clean room.
According to STTARS, no more than 100 airborne particles larger than or equal to 0.5 microns
are present within the container when Webb is on its way to the launch point.
If you compare the particle size, a human hair is only half a micron wide!
The container was completely cleaned on the inside and out by the Webb contamination control
team in order to get it ready for receiving and transporting the Webb.
Members of the team used the ultraviolet light to thoroughly check each screw, nut, and bolt
for any remaining contamination.
The spacecraft and the telescope in short, must be well cleaned.
Then, with both of them inside the Northrop Grumman clean room, Webb was placed into STTARS.
Until STTARS can be opened inside the reception clean room at the launch site, this will maintain
its cleanliness.
STTARS was transported to the French Guiana within the MN Colibri's massive cargo hold,
protected from the elements and the open ocean, together with other equipment and supplies
for launch preparations.
A sophisticated heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system was designed
especially for STTARS to monitor and control the temperature and humidity inside the container.
Neil Patel, the transportation manager for Webb at Goddard, was one of the five Webb
team members who travelled with STTARS to ensure that Webb would remain in good condition.
He said, "Traveling through the Panama Canal with Webb was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,
and a first-time activity for our team.
It was pretty remarkable to bring this observatory to its final site on Earth", he remarked.
The Webb telescope is already an experienced traveller, having travelled by land, air,
and now sea.
It had also been launched in the last month of 2021 for its final destination.
And do you know what, it is currently at its final destination, at Lagrange point 2 and
taking pictures of this wide universe.
And this is all how the biggest telescope was transported from California to the Space
Center.
Now take a look into the Just Released New Images of The James Webb Telescope, just click
on the video.