Building the World

SPACE: Journey to the beginning of the universe

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James Webb Space Telescope. Image: Nasa.gov.

NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope has successfully unfolded its gimbaled antenna assembly with the data dish that will beam back information about the earliest stars in the universe. Webb will take 29 days to reach the Lagrange Point 2 (L2) that is 1 million miles (1.6 kilometers) from the launch base on Earth. The Webb telescope, costing $10 billion, is considered the successor to Hubble. The upgrade is significant: Hubble could pick up only visible and ultraviolet light. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) uses infrared detectors and spectroscopes.

An image from Hubble. James Webb is expected to offer even better views. Image: NASA.gov.

Developed by NASA, with contributions by European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, with manufacturers Northrop Grumman, and Ball Aerospace who built the primary mirror, the new telescope is named after James E. Webb, NASA administrator from 1961-1968 who played a pivotal role in the Apollo lunar program, directing advances to serve education and science. It is interesting to note that Webb was not a scientist, but an attorney and business leader who had served in the public and private sectors. Webb almost turned down the job, but President John F. Kennedy convinced him that he had the right skills for a broad program with significant missions. You can listen to the audio of President John F. Kennedy and James Webb as they discuss human spaceflight: here.

James Webb Space Telescope is on its way. Illustration by Kevin Gill. Creative Commons license CC by SA 2.0. Image: wikimedia.

The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to open a new era in space and science. What would you like to discover about the beginning of the universe? To track the Webb as it travels towards its goal, click here.

NASA. James Webb Space Telescope. Goddard Space Flight Center. https://jwst.nasa.gov/

NASA. James Webb Space Telescope is fully deployed. UPDATE: https://twitter.com/hashtag/NASAWebb?src=hashtag_click

Pultarova, Tereza. “James Webb Space Telescope: The scientific mysteries no other observatory could unravel.’ 24 December 2021. Space.com.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Un

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