The James Webb Telescope Deployed

The James Webb Telescope Deployed

Editor: JWST is a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. It will serve thousands of astronomers worldwide. The project is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope is named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program. The James Webb Telescope will likely be pointing at stars and seeing its “first light” around mid-March. However, NASA says not to expect the first “showpiece” photos from Webb until May 24, 2022.

By D. S. Mitchell

Deployment

The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on December 25^th from Kourou Launch Station in French Guiana with the help of Ariane-5 ECA rocket. The space telescope was folded and literally ferried  into space because it was too large to fit inside its launching rocket. A team of NASA techies spent several hours on Saturday, January 8, 2022 opening the final mirror, according to NASA. It is expected to take  another five months to complete setup; including aligning the telescope’s optics and calibrating its scientific instruments. The most powerful telescope of all time will begin transmitting later this spring.

Long Held Secrets

It is expected the JWST will answer many questions scientists have pondered for millennia. The James Webb Telescope will replace Hubble, NASA’s current eye in space. JWST is now orbiting  a somewhat mystical area of space where the gravity and centripetal forces of the Sun and the Earth are ‘just right’. This ‘just right’ region allows objects to remain in a relatively “stable” position. This invisible point in space is known as an Earth-Sun Lagrange point. With its final course adjustment complete, the JWST is now orbiting around the sun at a distance of nearly 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

An Amazing Milestone

Space journalists agree that the deployment of JWST is an incredible achievement. The James Webb Space Telescope will scan the universe for light streaming from stars and galaxies formed billions of years ago. In fact, the telescope is a time machine, carrying the observer back to the beginning of the universe; to the Big Bang. JWST observations will be used to study the history of the Universe, including the evolution of our own solar system, and the formation of distant solar systems capable of supporting life on Earth-like exoplanets. Amazingly, the JWST will be able to provide information about the atmospheres of these exoplanets. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “While the journey is not complete, I join the Webb team in breathing a little easier and imagining the future breakthroughs bound to inspire the world’’.