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Beryllium Mirror Segment

A specialists, wearing a white protective "bunny suit," inspects a hexagon-shaped segment of Webb's beryllium mirror.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Space Technology sector is the prime contractor leading the design and development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Following a thorough and detailed evaluation, beryllium was selected as the material for the JWST primary mirror. A technician is shown mounting an alignment fiducial on a hexagonal beryllium mirror segment, which is approximately as large as the JWST flight mirror. It was developed under the Advanced Mirror System Demonstrator program (AMSD). AMSD was funded by a multiagency group to address the improvements in mirror materials, design and cycle times necessary to fabricate primary mirrors for future missions. The mirror segment stands in a support and actuation system where it was polished.
  • Release Date
    September 10, 2003
  • Science Release
    NASA Approves James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Architecture
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: Northrop Grumman

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Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

Northrop Grumman

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