The James Webb Space Telescope has been successfully launched
On Christmas night, a historic event occurred at a launch site in French Guiana: the NASA James Webb space telescope was launched into orbit. The telescope was launched using an Arean-5 launch vehicle. The space observatory, the creation of which cost 10 billion dollars to overcome the distance of 1.6 million kilometres.
It is assumed that this distance will be covered within a month, and to prepare the telescope to work will take 5 months. Once the telescope is in orbit, the main mirror, 6.5 metres in diameter, will be deployed and the canopy will be deployed. Next, the gilded mirror segments will be unfolded.
The launch was not without adventure
Work on this telescope began back in the 1990s. Experts from 29 countries were involved in the project.
The launch of the telescope was not without adventure. The first attempt was unsuccessful: Just at the last minute, technical problems surfaced which took a week to resolve. The telescope was successfully launched on a festive night.
As noted by experts, technology, which is equipped with a telescope will make it possible to conduct research from which it will be possible to draw certain conclusions about life in the Universe shortly after the Big Bang.
How will the new Webb telescope help science?
NASA astronaut Bill Nelson said that the results of research conducted through the telescope will help mankind to “better understand the universe and our place in it.
As noted by Nelson, the successful launch of the telescope can be considered a kind of miracle, because ideally worked several factors, which in combination ensured a successful launch. The astronaut called the event “a Christmas present for mankind”. According to astronaut Stephen Hawley, the James Webb telescope is considerably superior to its predecessor, the Hubble telescope. The astronaut also has expressed hope that in due course mankind will have opportunities and technologies which will allow to send for service of a telescope “James Webb” special crews as it was made for service of a telescope “Hubble”.
Experts assume that the orbiting James Webb telescope will serve at least ten years. However, some experts note that the lifetime of the telescope could be much longer. Experts note that when the Hubble telescope was launched from Earth and put into orbit in 1990, even the most optimistic predictions did not suggest that it would last 32 years.
Of course, it is not now possible to send crews with people to maintain the James Webb telescope. However, its creators have provided a number of design features that will significantly extend the life of the equipment in the event that people do get to the telescope for its maintenance.