Correction in Jan. 12 Story: The location of the mission operations center is now in paragraph 2 of Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore. It was previously Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt.

By Steve Gorman

(Reuters) -NASA on Wednesday embarked on a months-long, painstaking process of bringing its newly launched James Webb Space Telescope https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasas-revolutionary-new-space-telescope-due-launch-french-guiana-2021-12-25 into focus, a task due for completion in time for the revolutionary eye in the sky to begin peering into the cosmos by early summer.

Baltimore Space Telescope Science Institute mission control engineers started by sending initial commands via tiny motors known as actuators. These small motors slowly move and adjust the telescope’s main mirror.

This primary mirror, which is composed of 18 sections of hexagonal gold-plated beryllium, measures 21 feet (4 inches) (6.5 m). It also has an additional light-collecting surface that Webb’s older predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope (30 years old).

Following Webb’s Dec. 25 rocket launch, 18 of the segments were folded into one to be placed in the capsule that transported the telescope. They were then unfurled along with other structural elements during a period of two weeks.

These segments should now be removed from the fasteners holding them in place during launch. After that, they must be moved back half an inch from their initial configuration. This takes about ten days.

According to Lee Feinberg (Webb optical telescope element manager at Goddard), the alignment process will continue for three more months. He spoke by phone to Reuters.

Feinberg stated that alignment of the primary mirror sections to make one large mirror meant each segment was “aligned to one-five thousandth the thickness a human’s hair”.

He added that “all of this required us inventing things that hadn’t been done before.” Such as actuators which can move in an incremental manner at minus 400 F (minus 240 Celsius), in vacuum, was the reason for his invention.

In order to work together as an integrated optical system, Webb must align the secondary mirror of the telescope, which is smaller and serves to focus light collected by Webb’s primary lens on Webb’s instrument.

Feinberg stated that if all goes according to plan, the telescope will be ready in May to take its first science images. These would then be processed for about a month before being released to the general public.

NASA describes the $9 billion telescope as “the premier space-science observatory” and will allow it to view the cosmos through infrared wavelengths. It can also see through cloud of dust and gas where stars are being formed. Hubble was primarily active at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths.

Webb has a power about 100 times greater than Hubble. This allows it to see objects from a wider distance and thus further back than Hubble.

Astronomers predict that this new glimpse will reveal a view of the cosmos not seen before. It is only 100million years old since the Big Bang, which was the theoretical flashpoint responsible for the acceleration of the universe’s expansion an estimated 13.8 trillion years ago.

NASA is leading the international partnership that created the telescope in collaboration with Canadian and European space agencies. Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE 🙂 was primary contractor.