Recipe for the Perfect James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Mirrors
are a critical part of any space telescope, and the James Webb
Space Telescope's mirrors are made of a special element that
will enable it to withstand the rigors of space and see farther
back in time/distance than any other telescope now in operation.
Space telescope mirrors must endure the extremely frigid
temperatures in space, be highly reflective, lightweight and
tough. Those are exactly the qualities that make up the 18
mirrors being developed for the Webb Telescope. To collect as
much light as possible to see galaxies from 13 billion light-
years away, the Webb Telescope needs a large mirror but also
needs to be lightweight enough to not weigh down the rocket
carrying it into space. The answer was to make it out of
beryllium. Mirror History and Make-up By definition, a mirror is
an object with a surface that is smooth enough to form an image,
such as a "plane mirror," which has a flat surface. Curved
mirrors produce magnified or reduced im