Done!
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror. This was the last step of the major, two week long, nailbiter deployment of the Webb Telescope. Which means we can now start working our way back in time, when the first galaxies appeared.
A Word from NASA
“Today, NASA achieved another engineering milestone decades in the making. 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,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission that is on the precipice of seeing the light from the first galaxies and discovering the mysteries of our universe. Each feat already achieved and future accomplishment is a testament to the thousands of innovators who poured their life’s passion into this mission.”
Looking into the Past
The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope developed by NASA with contributions from 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 who played a big role in the Apollo program that landed 12 men on the moon. The telescope costs 10 billion dollars.
The telescope will be able to see back in time 13.5 billion years ago. To the time where the first galaxies appeared. It will also replace the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) that has been in orbit for 32 years. However these photos will come back if the telescope can get into its orbit around the sun on January 30. If successful it will be almost until May 2022 then we get the first photos. Due to the spacecraft adjustments and the amount of time to look back far.
But the Telescope will help us overall see what the universe was like 13.5 billion years ago. And there may be surprises…
