The $10 billion telescope is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope which is still active. The James Webb Space Telescope was developed in 1996, which was expected to be launched in the year 2007. It will launch from South America’s French Guiana on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket. The James Webb Telescope is about 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. Reuters affirms, the telescope has been developed at a price of $8.8 billion. However, the other expenditure on the Telescope makes it $10 billion telescope.
Overview of The James Webb Space Telescope
The telescope will be folded into the nose cone of the rocket. As it will head towards its destination, it will then unfold. It is assumed that upon the arrival, the telescope will keep up with Earth’s orbit around the sun and will constantly stay on the planet’s nightside. Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator said that more than 300 parts are supposed to work ‘perfectly’ for the mission to be successful. The heat-sensing Webb Telescope will see the things that even 31 years old Hubble can’t see. The Webb will take around 1 month to reach the destination. Additionally, it will 5 more months to get all the instruments in sequence. The telescope is said to be the most expensive and the trickiest so far, to pull off. The telescope has been developed under 3 agencies:
NASAEuropean Space AgencyCanadian Space Agency
Bill Nelson said that he is almost as nervous as this launch as he was for his own launch 36 years ago, who also flew on a space shuttle mission.
Lesser-known facts about The James Webb Space Telescope
The telescope is shaped like a ‘golden sunflower’
It is made up of 18 hexagonal segments and each one is covered in a super-thin layer of gold.
The coldest space telescope ever
As infrared is heat so the Webb must be cold. It is a 5-layer tennis court sized sunshield that acts like a parasol.
The telescope will look for signs of alien life
The telescope will also look for the signs of alien life in space and will study about the origin of universe’s 1st star ever.
