Zoom / NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was placed in historic chamber A of the Johnson Space Center for vacuum testing on June 20, 2017.
It has been six months since a European rocket launched the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. Since then, the ultra-sophisticated telescope has successfully deployed its expansive solar shield, launched its scientific instruments and reached an observation point hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth.
This period of white knuckles in space followed nearly two decades of efforts to design, build and test the Earth’s telescope before it was launched on Christmas 2021. But now all these efforts are in the rearview mirror and the huge efforts of the 6-diameter Web Mirror , 5 meters looking outside and collecting scientific data and images. This is the largest and most powerful telescope that humans have ever placed in space, and it is already revealing new insights into our space.
“The images are being taken now,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, who heads NASA’s science programs, during a news conference Wednesday. “There is already some incredible science in the box, and some others will still be taken as we move forward. We are in the middle of collecting historical data. “
NASA said it plans to release several images starting at 10:30 a.m. ET (2:30 p.m. UTC) on July 12, the result of Web observations of the “first light.” On Wednesday, space agency officials said the images and other data would include the deepest image of the universe ever taken – looking farther into space than humans ever had – as well as the spectrum of the atmosphere around the exoplanet. Looking at infrared radiation, Webb will be able to identify the fingerprints of small molecules, such as carbon dioxide and ozone, that will offer meaningful clues about the habitability of worlds around other stars.
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NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said she was struck by the images the Web has created so far. “What I saw excited me as a scientist, as an engineer and as a human being,” she said.
The telescope is strong. Thanks to the precision launch of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 5 rocket, Webb must have enough maneuverable fuel on board for 20 years of life. And although there are already five micrometeroid impacts, the telescope is designed to detect these small impacts with a large margin.
Speaking about his first encounter with data from the Web, Zurbuchen said he was also in awe of what the telescope had proven to be capable of. He said he almost cried when he looked at the first pictures taken with the new instrument.
“It’s really hard not to look at the universe in a new light and just not have a moment that is deeply personal,” he said. “It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly reveal some of its secrets. And I’d like you to imagine and expect that.”
What a joke!
Unfortunately, we will have to wait nearly two full weeks to see the final products of Webb’s first observations. NASA has said it will not release any images sooner, even on the basis of an embargo. But we waited 20 years for the Web to appear online and offer a truly worthy successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. I guess we can wait a little longer.
If it is necessary.
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