Take away your billing hours: after 15 years of development and $ 10 billion (£ 7.25 billion) spent, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is ebbing closer to launch.
The successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s new extraterrestrial observatory not only deepens our understanding of the Milky Way, but also distant exoplanets and celestial objects. Capable of capturing a wide range of light waves, the JWST also hopes to track Earth’s first galaxies and even find evidence of a dark matter.
But when exactly will the JWST first launch? How does the observatory compare to Hubble? And what is his official mission? You can see the answers below.
When will the James Webb space telescope launch?
The Ariane 5 rocket called the James Webb Space Telescope is expected to launch 31 October 2021 (Halloween) at French Guiana. The exact launch time has not yet been announced.
The observatory was originally scheduled to explode in 2007, but since then 16 delays have been launched.
In early 2020, NASA predicted that the JSWT would be ready by March 2021. However, after the coronavirus pandemic and social speed restrictions delayed testing, construction was postponed again.
Who is James Webb?
The James Webb Space Telescope is named after James Edwin Webb, NASA’s second administrator.
Webb was famous for being in charge of Apollo, the space program that first sent humans to the Moon. However, it was also important in overseeing the two pre-Apollo crew space programs: Mercury and Gemini.
To make way for a replacement elected by a new president (Richard Nixon), Webb left NASA in late 1968. This was several months before Neil Armstrong took one big leap for mankind on the surface of the lunar (July 20, 1969).
Webb finally died in 1992, at the age of 85.
“It is fitting that the Hubble agent should be named in James Webb’s honor. Thanks to his efforts, we got our first glimpse of the amazing landscape of outer space, ”former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe said of the observatory’s name. “He took our country on the first expeditions, exploring our imagination.”
Before being named after James Webb in 2002, the JWST took the title of the next generation Space Telescope. Yes, that’s right Star Trek.
How big is the James Webb space telescope?
Named the follower of the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST is the largest space observatory ever built. Its impressive sunshield base measures 22m by 12m, about the size of a tennis court.
Although nearly twice the size of Hubble (only 13m long), the JWST weighs almost half the weight at 6,500kg.
The JWST gold-plated mirrors have a total diameter of 6.5m, much larger than Hubble’s 2.4m diameter plate. Overall, the JWST will have a 15-hour wider view than Hubble.
How Long Can the James Webb Space Telescope See?
Using its infrared telescope, the JWST observatory will study objects that are more than 13.6 billion light-years away.
Because of the time it takes for light to travel around the Earth, this means that the JWST will be effectively looking at objects 13.6 billion years ago, about 100 to 250 million years after Big Bang. This is the longest time back in time that humanity has ever seen.
Where will the James Webb Space Telescope orbit?
After launching into space, the JWST orbits the sun, flying up to 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in temperatures reaching -223 ° C.
For comparison, the Moon is 384,400km away, while the Hubble Space Telescope flies just 570km above our planet. Because the JWST will be operating so far away from Earth, astronauts will not be able to service if any cracks occur.
What is the purpose of the James Webb Space Telescope?
As the JWST is the result of international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), it has many mission objectives.
These include:
- Investigate the first light in the Universe and the celestial materials created shortly after the Great Bang.
- Investigate how galaxies shape and grow.
- Investigate the sensations of distant exoplanets.
- Capture images of planets in our own solar system.
- Find evidence of a dark case.
The JWST is expected to operate for five years after its launch. However, NASA hopes the observatory will last longer than 10 years.
Unfortunately, the observatory will never be able to operate: while solar power is predominant, the JWST needs some finite fuel to maintain its orbit and instruments.