The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled the new launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be March 30, 2021. The James Webb telescope is one of the most significant projects in space science and is carried out between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
This project represents a great hope for NASA to continue the legacy of the Hubble telescope to help answer one of the great questions of science: Are we alone in the universe?
The JWTS is significantly larger and more powerful than Hubble, with six times more surface in its main mirror to capture light.
The European Space Agency (ESA) noted that in this telescope have had to develop and master new technologies so that the specific features of the telescope can be used, as the deployment of the observatory itself which will transport the largest mirror ever launched into space, and the operation at low temperatures of its infrared instruments, which will allow us to go further and observe in greater detail the cosmic origins.
The mirrors of the telescope have been covered with a microscopically thin layer of gold, selected for its ability to adequately reflect the infrared light of the mirrors in the observatory's scientific instruments. It will use 21 mirrors, 18 will form the main 6.5 meters in diameter. Built by Ball Aerospace at the request of Northrop Grumman, the main contractor. They are beryllium mirrors, covered with a thin layer of gold of 3 grams; which will bring the reflectivity in the infrared up to 98%.
The telescope will investigate from the mysteries of the Solar System that are formed in our Milky Way to the first galaxies emerged in the 13,800 million years of history of our Universe including planets that orbit stars beyond the Sun, as well as respond to fundamental questions of the astronomy that can only be addressed with an observatory of this complexity.
The director of Science of the European Space Agency, Günther Hasinger said:
"The James Webb Space Telescope is the most ambitious and complex astronomical project ever built, so making it a reality is a long and laborious process. The wait will be somewhat longer, but given the scientific level that will allow us to reach, it is well worth it ".
The Webb mirror will have 6.5 meters. This means that the collection surface of Webb is seven times larger than the Hubble mirror. This means that Webb will pick up much more light from weak objects, allowing it to look deeper into the universe than Hubble, and see further back in time (due to the time it takes for light to travel, the farther an object is, further back in time we are looking for). Essentially, if Hubble can see the equivalent of "small galaxies" in the early universe, the Webb Telescope will see "baby galaxies."
Once the telescope passes the various tests to which it is programmed, it will be integrated with the other half of the observatory, which are the modules that house the telescope and the scientific instrument. This module, whose tests were completed last year, includes the NIRSpec and MIRI instruments, part of the European contribution to this observatory.
The launch will be made at the European Spaceport of Kurú (French Guiana) aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, once all the parts of the telescope have been assembled and the final tests have been approved.