A telescope with a mirror the size of a tennis court unfolded itself a million miles away

The James Webb Space Telescope launched folded origami-style inside its rocket, then completed around 50 major deployments, any one of which could have doomed the mission, before its 18 gold-coated beryllium mirror segments aligned. It then captured the deepest infrared images of the universe ever taken.

— NASA, ESA, and CSA, James Webb Space Telescope — First images released July 2022