--- title: "Glitch Made NASA Scientists Think the James Webb Might Be Dead" description: "The James Webb Space Telescope has charmed starwatchers the world round, but there was a time NASA was worried it wouldn't make it." date: "2022-07-18" modified: "2022-07-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/webb-shield-glitch" categories: - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "James webb" - "james webb space telescope" - "JWST" - "NASA" - "space telescopes" - "sunshield" - "the digest" --- # Glitch Made NASA Scientists Think the James Webb Might Be Dead ![The James Webb Space Telescope has charmed starwatchers the world round, but there was a time NASA was worried it wouldn't make it.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Ground Control The [James Webb Space Telescope has charmed starwatchers the world round](). But as NASA scientists recently revealed, there was a brief moment of panic when they were worried the scope wouldn't make it. In a [*Science Channel* special](), NASA Mission Operations Manager Carl Starr admitted that the telescope's sunshield, a key piece of equipment that ensure**s** it doesn't get burnt by the Sun's rays, encountered a glitch that led to its failure to communicate with Mission Control. Translation: there was a period of time when NASA wasn't sure whether or not the JWST was about to become space junk. "We never saw the switches activate, so we stopped," Starr said in the special, [parts of which were transcribed by *Yahoo News*](). "So the next thing is to fire it again, so we fired again and it didn’t work." ## Major Oops The tennis court-sized shield is highly sensitive and hits a number of switches to signal that it's deployed. So when some of the switches failed to register after the deployment , the ground team became concerned. Down on Earth, Webb's control center began brainstorming what could have gone wrong. "It was very serious," Starr said. "I’m not sure how to describe it, but, again, it got very quiet, and people became very solemn." ## Mission Possible Ultimately, Mission Control never got official confirmation that the sunshield had unfurled. But according to the telescope's thermal engineers, the temperature readings indicated that it was cooled down enough that the shields must have unfurled after all and just failed to hit one of the switches. "When they told us that and we were getting the briefing," the mission operations manager told the *Science Channel*, "the looks on everybody’s faces, the relief, and then we were able to go full speed ahead right after that." And thank our lucky stars it did. **READ MORE:** [James Webb Telescope glitch had NASA engineers completely freaking out: 'It was very serious']() \[*Yahoo News*\] **More on Webb:** *[The Webb Telescope Just Quietly Released a Picture Of Jupiter]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()