Much of our knowledge of space will radically change when NASA puts Webb into orbit, the most powerful space telescope in history.
At a cost of $10 billion, the launch date is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30, 2021, when an Ariane 5 rocket takes off from the hub located in French Guiana.
Anyway, there could be some delay due to the coronavirus crisis, which forced to stop the tasks of all the scientific teams on site.
To take a dimension of its magnitude, it will be 100 times more powerful than the magnificent and renowned Hubble, and it is the size of a tennis court.
The telescope was named in honor of James E. Webb, a NASA administrator during the Apollo mission era.
Its development is a joint work between the United States Space Agency, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSCI).
On your to-do list, you will study our solar system, capture images of exoplanets directly, photograph the first galaxies, and explore the mysteries of the origins of the universe.
To do this, new technologies had to be developed and mastered to make their specific characteristics possible, such as the deployment of the observatory itself, which will transport the largest mirror ever launched into space, and the low-temperature operation of its infrared instruments, which will allow more far and observe in greater detail our cosmic origins.
From the secrets of the stars and planets that form in our Milky Way to the first galaxies that emerged in the 13.8 billion years of history of our universe, and from the mysteries of our Solar System to those of the planets that orbit stars beyond of our sun, Webb will answer fundamental questions of astronomy that can only be addressed with an observatory of this complexity.
The telescope is so large that it must be folded like origami to fit inside the rocket for its space travel.
Once in space, deploying and preparing Webb for science operations will be a complex process that will take about six months.
Watch the video below:
Source: Conocedores
