America was a divided nation, but it did not stop it from testing the parts of the James Webb Space Telescope in different colors.
The European Union and Russia are facing off over a number of issues this year, but scientists from both sides will benefit from the discoveries that could soon be reached.
The telescope's trajectory to the stars was unaffected by the Pandemic and the final product ended up on a launchpad in French Guiana.
The tale of nations coming together for a common ambition was told by the James Webb Space Telescope. At a time when countries are divided over climate change, migration, and a disease that has killed millions, the launch of the spaceship was a reminder that international cooperation on grand-scale projects was still possible.
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The telescope lifted off from a spaceport in French Guiana.
Martin Barstow, a professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester in England, said that he likes to think that science is a way to moderate some of the extreme situations that we have on this planet. Through all the trying times, I have always seen space as an area where we cooperate.
Competition has come with cooperation. China, which did not participate in the project, is planning to launch its own space telescope. The Russia-U.S. space alliance has come under strain because of political tensions between the countries.
The conception and launch of the telescope took more than 30 years, but the US covered the $10 billion cost, which was shared by scientists around the globe.
The telescope project was unaffected by political upheavals on both sides of the Atlantic. The rise of Donald J. Trump in the United States, Britain's withdrawal from the European Union and the growing popularity of nationalist movements in Europe were all part of the work.
German scientists had to figure out how to remotely test parts of the telescope that were sitting in California when travel was banned around the world because of the Pandemic.
Oliver Krause of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany said that he had been to Los Angeles frequently and then suddenly couldn't do that. He said the teams worked for weeks to come up with a solution.
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The rocket that launched the telescope flew away. It took more than 30 years for the idea to become a reality.
The wheels that allow the telescope to switch between different modes were made by Mr. Krause. His team in Germany was chosen to build them because of its expertise in moving parts of telescopes.
If the wheel gets stuck in an intermediate position, you will have no light coming in. The sun shield, part of the telescope, was built in Alabama.
Sarah Kendrew, an instrument and calibration scientist at the European Space Agency, is also an astronomer, and she and her colleagues were just as affected by borders and political divides as the parts of the telescope were.
Ms. Kendrew was involved in the creation of one of the key components of the telescope. The device can detect light from the mid-infrared region of the spectrum, which is unseen to the eye, and can reveal faint galaxies, stars in formation as well as planets around other stars.
During her fellowship in the Netherlands, Ms. Kendrew began her work on MIRI. She moved to Germany where the instrument was tested and then to Britain where she continued her work on the instrument. She moved to Baltimore in 2016 to become the telescope's mission control center.
She said science is one of the areas where you have to learn to work across borders and political divides after watching the liftoff of the telescope.
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The systems engineers at the Baltimore office of the Webb Mission are preparing for the launch.
The launch came at the end of a very difficult year in a world desperate for good news. The opening of the International Space Station two decades ago and the early Apollo missions to the moon were watched in many countries.
The launch of James Webb was watched by people all over the world. Even if they are in China or North Korea, it is something that is interesting for them. People are interested in the possibility of discovery regardless of their religion or political system.
While scientists will be looking to the telescope to answer questions about the universe, the one that has drawn the most excitement is something that humanity has long wondered: Will there be others looking back at us from the stars?
Mr. Gillon is assembling a team that may one day find out if there is life on other planets.
Mr. Gillon used earlier telescopes to discover seven planets in the constellation. He named them after his favorite beers.
He joked that they wanted to give a Belgian flavor to the project.
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The sky above Hungary was covered in the stars last year.
He organized a group of more than 100 scientists from around the world to study the star system.
The holy grail of the field is detecting traces of biological activity.
At a time when climate change and disease seem to threaten our collective future, the astronomer pondered the effect of finding life in the universe.
He acknowledged that it wouldn't solve all the problems. I still think it would bring magic and a feeling of being human.
