Why the James Webb Space Telescope's successful launch is the beginning of a new era in astronomy
, and the successor to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which has studied the Universe since 1990. Following its launch, Webb will now embark on the riskiest part of its mission — deploying all the parts required for its enormous mirror to peer deep into the cosmos, back towards the dawn of time.
“What an emotional day,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's head of science, on a webcast from the launch site."It's the beginning of one of the most amazing missions that humanity has conceived." First and most crucial is the deployment of Webb’s kite-shaped sunshield, which is the size of a tennis court. The shield’s job is to shade Webb from radiation, and cool the environment from 110 ºC on the Sun-facing side to –235 ºC on the shaded side. Webb requires frigid temperatures for its optics to be able to pick up the glimmers of distant galaxies and other cosmic objects in infrared wavelengths.“The unique aspect about Webb is that it is a cold telescope,” says Hasinger.
One reason it will be six months before science can begin is that the telescope needs time to cool down to its operating temperature. Only about four months after launch will the primary mirror segments be sufficiently cooled and aligned to assume the correct shape. Mission engineers will then begin calibrating the instruments.
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