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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- It won't be long before the world will see the universe through Utah's "eyes."
Utah-mined beryllium is being used to create a 21-foot-diameter mirror in the James Webb Space Telescope that astronomers will use to study the development of the universe. The telescope is scheduled for launch into space in 2013.
One of the lightest metals, beryllium is mined in Juab County and processed at mills there and in Millard County. Patrick Carpenter, a spokesman for the mine owner, says the metal is transformed into a powder which is then treated with heat and pressure to make a metal slab called a mirror billet.
The billet will be split in half like a cookie and further processed into 18 mirror segments. Those segments are arranged into a large hexagon-shaped mirror for the telescope.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
