An artist's depiction of a telescope in the sky.
The image was taken from the website of the company.
The James Webb Space Telescope is a high-capability space observatory designed to change the way we think about astronomy from star formation to galaxy evolution to the properties of planetary systems.
The mission has struggled to launch because it is so complex. The $10 billion project was initially proposed as a $1 billion observatory, but was later changed to a $10 billion project.
There is a view of the atmosphere from the International Space Station.
The image was taken by NASA.
Telescopes that are far from the light pollution of cities need to observe through the atmosphere, which is filled with moist air. Astronomers prefer to place their observatories in high-altitude places like Maunakea in Hawai'i, in dry places like Southwest U.S., or in a spot that's both high and dry like the high desert of the Atacama in northernChile.
Earth's atmosphere will still pose problems no matter what you do. If you want to get around the limitations, you can put your telescope in space. Hubble and its brethren have been successful because of that. The coalition of space telescopes will be getting a new entrant.
The Hubble Space Telescope is in the sky.
The image was taken by NASA.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been an astronomer's eye far into the universe for the past 30 years. Calculating dark matter and the ancient universe has been made easier thanks to it. Since Hubble's 1990 launch, astronomy and technology have evolved.
There is a place for a space telescope that is bigger and more powerful than Hubble. Hubble's mirror is more than twice as large as the new telescope's. The hope is that the knowledge of the universe will be expanded for many years to come.
The Hubble Space Telescope has a picture of the center of the Milky Way. Within the first year of science work, the center of the galaxy will be observed by the JWST.
The image was taken by NASA/ESA/SSC/CXC/STScI.
Astronomers hope that the telescope will be able to answer some of their questions. The ability of the JWST to see the universe in its very early days is better than visible-light telescopes. Astronomers believe that this could help the telescope observe the light of the first stars to form after the Bigbang.
The study of exoplanets is one of the goals ofJWST. Astronomers want to see how stars form. They might be able to zoom into those planetary systems, observe exoplanets' atmospheres and even look for signs of life.
James is the brother of James.
The image was taken by NASA.
James Webb was NASA's second administrator and held that position until 1968. The science program at NASA was supported by the man who was most associated with the Apollo program that sent humans to the moon.
In 2002, the Next Generation Space Telescope was renamed in honor of the man. The name of the spaceship has caused controversy. NASA traditionally names science missions after scientists rather than bureaucrats.
Those objecting to the name argue that before joining NASA, he was involved in discussions about the federal government's "Lavender Scare" effort to drive queer people out of the government.
Bill Nelson is the current administrator of NASA. Although the agency mainly refers to the observatory as Webb, many astronomer retain the acronym, even offering alternative telescope titles that result in the same acronym.
The Next Generation Space Telescope was created by an artist in 2002.
The image is from NASA and JPL.
The history of JWST has been long and torturous. Plans for a successor to Hubble have been in the works since the 1990s. Plans kept increasing in complexity and cost, with the launch date slipping further into the future and the telescope not quite materializing.
There were additional delays when some of its components failed. The project's final steps to launch were delayed due to the fact that the telescope was finished in 2019.
Six primary mirror segments are being prepared for testing.
The image is from NASA/MSFC.
The mirror is the crown jewel of the organization. It's the largest mirror to ever go into space, bigger than the disk that underpins Hubble. The OTE is a mirror that is coated in gold. Each section is the size of a large table. The mirror has more than 100 motor underpins.
The challenge of building the mirror was enormous. Even the smallest mistake could affect the seeing abilities. The mirror was assembled at NASA's space flight center in Maryland.
The NIR Spec instrument is seen during testing.
The image is from NASA.
Most of the time Hubble observes in visible light. The JWST will be able to see in longer, redder wavelength. The telescope will be able to look at objects farther from us if this capability is used. Four instruments designed to discriminate between signals from the sun and the stars.
The instruments will be contained in a box that is mostly made of carbon dioxide. The bus is the brain of the organization.
The bus is protected by a massive sun shield and has a cryocooler that uses helium to keep its components cold.
The sun shield is a series of five thin layers.
The image is from NASA.
It needs to be kept very cold in order to be able to see weak signals. Even the subtlest temperature variations can throw off the mirror and make the telescope lose its crucial sensitivity. There is a huge sun shield on top of the cryocoolers.
The sun shield was folded before the launch. The sun shield unfurled in the first two weeks of the observatory's flight. The sun shield is made of five layers of Kaplon E, sandwiched between aluminum and Silicon to reflect the sun's light and heat away from the observatory. The sun shield is between the mirror and the direction of the sun.
The diagram shows the distance between Earth, the moon and the sun.
The image was taken by NASA.
The sun shield's layers are only one part of the deployment. It took NASA 29 days to complete the process. JWST also went out to its posting.
There is a point where the Earth and the sun equalize and this is called a Lagrange point. The observatory is located on the far side of the earth from the sun. The telescopes always lie in the Earth's shadow, giving them a clearer view of the universe. The JWST spent half an Earth year circling the L2 point.
Since it's three times the distance from the Earth to the moon, it's too far away for repairs like those that Hubble experienced. Constantly adjusting its speed by a few meters per second every year is what JWST has to do.
There is an artist's depiction of a telescope.
The image was taken by NASA.
The initial mission is expected to last a decade. The telescope has enough propellant to last 10 years, but it needs its thrusters to keep itself in the correct position. The observatory's distance from Earth means that it cannot be repaired like Hubble was.
Scientists are looking into what observatory they might want to follow. The Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR), which is proposed to be almost twice as wide as the JWST's mirror, is an example of this. One of astronomy's greatest goals is to find an Earth-like planet that holds life.
At the European spaceport in French Guiana, the European Ariane 5 rocket is ready to take off.
The image is from the Arianespace.
The European Space Agency is a key partner in the project and handled the launch. The telescope was assembled by a company in California south of Los Angeles.
The telescope left southern California and sailed through the Panama Canal before arriving at the European Space Agency's launch site in French Guiana. The launch of the mission took place on December 25, 2021. There is an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket in the sky.
The first image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope shows part of a mosaic that was created over 25 hours.
The image was taken by NASA.
On February 11th, NASA announced that it had captured the first images of star light. The first image taken was of a star. A mosaic of 18 bright dots was created by the light that was captured by the 18 mirror segments on the primary mirror.
A deliberate hexagonal formation was created when 18 unfocused copies of a star were brought into the mirror.
A "selfie" shows the 18 segments of the primary mirror as seen from a specialized camera inside the NIRCam instrument.
The image was taken by NASA.
During the primary mirror alignment process, Webb used a specialized camera to take a selfies. Engineers use the camera for engineering purposes.
This "selfie" shows one of the mirror segments shining brighter than the others because at the time of the photo it was the only segment pointing at a star. Each mirror segment wasaligned one by one.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope can now take pictures of objects in the sky.
The image is from NASA and theSTScI.
On April 28, NASA announced in a statement that the James Webb Space Telescope had finished its alignment phase and was able to capture crisp, well-focused images with all of its scientific instruments.
After completing the final stage of telescope alignment, the telescope was ready to move on to its next and final series of preparations.
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