James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) was launched on Dec 25, 2021 from French Guiana on an Arianne 5 rocket. Webb orbits the Sun 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth.  

Webb is the largest telescope (nearly the size of a tennis court) ever placed in space.  100 more times powerful than Hubble, Webb is the premier orbiting infrared observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the history of our Universe - with unprecedented infrared sensitivity, it will peer back in time over 13.5 billion years to see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang, as well as to look inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today.

Mission Goals

• Early Universe: Search for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang.

• Galaxies Over Time: Determine how galaxies evolved from their formation until now.

• Star Lifecycle: Observe the formation of stars from their initial stages to the formation of planetary systems.

• Other Worlds: Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems, including our own Solar System, and investigate the potential for life in those systems.

The James Webb Telescope is having a unique and profound role in transforming our understanding of astrophysics and the origins of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems.

Webb is an International Collaboration, including NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians from 14 countries, 29 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C. contributed to the design, build, test, integration, launch, commissioning and operations of Webb.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center managed the development effort, and under contract to NASA, the Space Telescope Science Institute operates Webb (post launch). 

Who Is James Webb?

Many believe that James E. Webb, a NASA Administrator who ran the fledgling NASA space agency from February 1961 to October 1968, did more for science than perhaps any other government official and that it is only fitting that the Next Generation Space Telescope would be named after him.

Credits:

NASA & The Space Telescope Science Institute

Produced by:  Animmersion 

Producer:  Claire Mackie

www.animmersion.co.uk