LIVE COVERAGE OF FINAL JWST DEPLOYMENT STEPS AND MEDIA BRIEFING, Jan 8, 2022, virtual, 9:00 am ET/1:30 pm ET

NASA plans the final deployment steps for the James Webb Space Telescope — unfolding the two wings of the primary mirror — for January 7 and 8, 2022.

Beginning on January 8 no earlier than 9:00 am ET, live coverage of the final deployment will air on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

A media briefing is planned at approximately 1:30 pm ET.

The 6.5 meter primary mirror was too large to fit inside the Ariane 5 rocket that lofted the telescope into space so it was folded into three segments with six of the 18 hexagon on wings on either side of the main structure (three on the port side, three starboard). Unfolding them are the last remaining steps is deploying the $10 billion observatory.