Time-lapse: James Webb Space Telescope heads into thermal vacuum testing

The doors are sealed, and our next critical testing milestone has begun! At this very moment, the James Webb Space Telescope’s spacecraft and sunshield, known together as the Spacecraft Element are locked inside a thermal vacuum chamber at Northrop Grumman’s space park in Redondo Beach, California. Special chambers like these help technicians and engineers to test Webb’s hardware in similar conditions to what it will experience while in space. Thermal vacuum testing is designed to ensure that Webb can fun