NASA's biggest telescope ever readies for million-mile journey
The biggest space mission ever attempted is getting ready for launch.
The James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, has been built with one goal in mind: to peer into the farthest reaches of the galaxy in order to glean clues about what the universe looked like in its very earliest days. And because Webb has been engineered to be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope, the granddaddy of all space telescopes, it may even be able to detect signs of life.
鈥淚f you put something this powerful into space, who knows what we can find? It鈥檚 going to be revolutionary because it鈥檚 so powerful,鈥澛爏aid聽Matt Mountain, director of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.,聽in an interview with Science magazine.
Webb is also unique in its design. It has been engineered to be lighter and more flexible than its famous predecessor. Its mirrors are made of beryllium and coated with gold so that they not only reflect better, but also provide a view of the infrared spectrum. Webb鈥檚 instruments have been constructed to work at -382潞F. The sunshield that will protect those intricate instruments is also huge: It鈥檚 the size of a tennis court.
Because the telescope is so big, it will be folded up inside the rocket before launching. Once Webb launches in October 2018, the telescope will begin unfolding piece by piece as the mission travels for 30 days and one million miles to its final destination. First, Webb鈥檚 instruments that provide power and communication with Earth will emerge. Then, Webb鈥檚 giant sunshield will unfurl, and finally, its mirrors will move into position.
That鈥檚 the tricky part:聽Because Webb is traveling so far away, there is currently no rocket capable of ferrying astronauts to fix the telescope if anything goes wrong.
But despite the enormous pressure surrounding the launch preparations, the scientists working on the Webb mission are excited to be a part of this exciting moment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just enchanting to be witnessing history,鈥� Marcia Rieke, of the University of Arizona鈥檚 Steward Observatory in Tucson, told Science.
[Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify why it would be so difficult to repair Webb if something were to go wrong.]
