NASA sent $10 billion worth of delicate hardware screaming into the skies above French Guiana on Saturday, when it launched the James Webb Space Telescope. The time is later.
The first big telescope to rocket past Earth's atmosphere since the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 is called the "Webb" telescope.
NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency collaborated on the project, which is six times larger and 100 times more powerful than its predecessor. It is expected to fill a gap in the historical record of our universe and to identify distant worlds that could host alien life.
On March 4, 2020, the primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope will be deployed.
Chris Gunn is from NASA.
I'm thinking about looking at the universe in a new light. "We've never seen the universe before, and we're going to see it for the first time in a long time," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's Associate Administrator.
An Ariane 5 rocket, with its main engine and secondary engines being carried by a single strap-on, roared to life and flung itself off a launchpad at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana at 7:21 a.m. On Saturday. The rocket's nose fell three minutes later, exposing the person inside. The upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket fell away, leaving the lower stage to fire its engines and give a final boost to the satellite before it fell away.
The rocket's last stage was where the James Webb Space Telescope was located. This is the last time a camera will take a picture of him.
NASA TV.
A decade behind schedule and over budget, Webb has finally been cared for. In the next six months, it has to unfold itself, align its mirrors, calibrate its instruments, and travel 1 million miles from Earth. It can begin to study the universe.
Bill Ochs, NASA's project manager for the project, said in a November press briefing that he wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief until the project was operational.
There will be 343 opportunities for failure when it unfolds itself in space.
It will take about a month for Webb to reach its destination, which is a 1 million mile trip around the sun. Along the way, the telescope must unfold itself.
A hexagonal mirror made of 18 gold-coated segments and a sun shield the size of a tennis court are two major components of the telescope. NASA folded them up like a table because they were too large to fit in a rocket.
On December 11, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is lowered onto the top of an Ariane 5 rocket at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
M.Pedoussaut is a member of the European Space Agency.
Mike Menzel, NASA's lead mission systems engineer, said in a video that "Unfolding Webb is hands down the most complicated spacecraft activity we've ever done."
There are 344 unique mechanisms in the design. NASA calls them single-point failures since they must work perfectly for the telescope to function. The two-week unfolding process involves about 80% of those points.
If it goes according to plan, it will take about four months for the mirror to align. The observatory's science instruments will be adjusted to observe the universe in different wavelength of light.
Our understanding of the universe could be changed by the first year in space of the man.
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field is the deepest visible-light image of the universe. It has over 10,000 galaxies.
The HUDF Team is made up of NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith.
Looking back in time is what telescopes do. It takes time for light to travel. The older an object is, the closer it is to Earth.
Astronomers have seen the light of ancient galaxies thanks to Hubble. The first 400 million years of the universe saw the growth of some of the larger galaxies.
The first chapter of the universe's story is missing a few key paragraphs, according to a scientist on the NASA team. "JWST was designed to help us find the first stars."
During its first year, the telescope will conduct hundreds of investigations from thousands of scientists all over the world.
An artist's impression of a planet in the sky.
M. Kornmesser is a member of the European Space Agency.
The projects include looking for signs of gold and Platinum on distant planets, analyzing the atmospheres of distant planets for gases that could signal alien life, and searching for planets that are similar to our own. Clouds of dust that obscure the universe's stellar nurseries will allow it to peer through the cameras.
NASA has a controversial name.
An artist's conception of a telescope.
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez is a NASA GSFC/CIL.
There is controversy over the name of the man. More than 1,000 people, including scientists who applied for observing time with the telescope, signed a petition to change it.
The telescope's name was given to NASA's second administrator, James Webb, who helped enforce government policies against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer community. The letter states that before he became NASA's undersecretary of state, he met with President Harry Truman to discuss how to enforce the policies.
NASA fired at least one employee after an official questioned him about his sexuality, according to court documents. During his time as NASA administrator, the firing took place. NASA decided against changing the telescope's name after a review of historical documents.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement that there was no evidence to justify changing the name of the telescope.
The post has been updated.
