Washington: The world’s largest telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), built by NASA was irreparably damaged by micrometeoroid strikes, says a new report.

The $10 billion telescope was struck by a micrometeoroid in May this year and the complications of the hit are more serious than estimated before, suggests the new report.

A micrometeoroid struck the James Webb Space Telescope between May 22 and 24, impacting one of the observatory's 18 hexagonal golden mirrors. NASA scientists have estimated ‘one minor strike per month’ before the launch of the highly advanced Webb telescope and it has already been hit by five other smaller micro meteoroids since its launch.

The new report “Characterization of JWST science performance from commissioning” came after the launch of the astonishing images captured by NASA’s Webb telescope.

This report also stated that the lifetime of the JWST may be affected by the hit, as it damaged the primary mirror of the telescope.

On the right, the state of the James Webb Space Telescope on June 21, 2022, after an unexpectedly large micrometeoroid strike and subsequent responses, compared to the expected state on the left (Image credit: NASA/STScI)

However, the NASA team after their initial assessment of the Webb Telescope reported that the telescope is performing well and fulfills all its mission requirements.

Based on fuel usage, the telescope should last 20 years in space. But scientists aren't sure how much of effect micrometeoroid strikes will have upon its operations, the report authors stated.

Micrometeroids are a known danger of space operations, and facing them is by no means new to scientists; the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope are among long-running programs that are still operational despite occasional space rock strikes. However, Webb's orbit at Lagrange Point 2 about 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from the Earth may change the risk profile considerably.

Happily, in this case the overall effect on Webb was small. That said, the report outlines the investigation and modeling that engineers are undertaking to assess the long-term effects of micrometeoroids on Webb.