/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14684970
the damage is caused by direct impacts to the reflector surface. the instrumentation in roman, and hubble, are similarly exposed, because they have to be. otherwise you're reducing the sensitivity of measurements which can be taken. even if you shield the instruments, they will still get fucked up by meteorites.
it's like getting a scratch on your screen protector on a phone. yeah the screen itself isn't scratched, but there's still a scratch on the protector. it's not like you can ship someone out to put a new protector on it.