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[b]Aft momentum flap deployed, sunshield covers released[/b] Shortly after 9 a.m. EST today (Dec. 30), the Webb team completed deployment of the observatory's aft momentum flap. In a process that took about eight minutes, engineers released the flap's hold-down devices, and a spring brought the flap into its final position. The aft momentum flap helps minimize the fuel engineers will need to use throughout Webb's lifetime, by helping to maintain the observatory's orientation in orbit. As photons of sunlight hit the large sunshield surface, they will exert pressure on the sunshield, and if not properly balanced, this solar pressure would cause rotations of the observatory that must be accommodated by its reaction wheels. The aft momentum flap will sail on the pressure of these photons, balancing the sunshield and keeping the observatory steady. Just as a ship's mast must be set in position and the rigging established before the ship unfurls its sails, Webb's pallet structures, momentum flap, and mid-booms will soon all be in place for Webb's silver sunshield to unfold. Webb's engineers then released and rolled up the sunshield covers that protected the thin layers of Webb's sunshield during launch. After the team electrically activated release devices to release the covers, they executed commands to roll the covers up into a holding position, exposing Webb's sunshield membranes to space for the first time. The deployment, which took about an hour, concluded at approximately 12:27 p.m. EST. In their next stages of planned activities, engineers will deploy the sunshield mid-booms, before proceeding with sunshield tensioning. The steps in this process, controlled by humans at Webb's Mission Operations Center, may change.
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