Telescope can look further into universe’s origins
The US space agency unveiled in Washington a full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a probe bejewelled with new technologies that will succeed the aging but invaluable Hubble telescope in 2013.
Scientists hope the telescope, named after the man who ran NASA from 1961 to 1968, will peer back to the first stars after the ‘Big Bang’ and the formation of solar systems capable of hosting life.
The telescope, a joint project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies, will be three times bigger than Hubble, with a hexagonal mirror 21.3 feet in diameter and five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court.
The probe, being built by Northrop Grumman Corp, will incorporate 10 new technologies, including an infrared camera and a spectrometer, kept at an extremely low temperature for optimum performance. The telescope is expected to have a 10-year lifespan.
The model was on display in front of Washington’s National Air and Space Museum. While Hubble was able to peer back to one billion years after the Big Bang, officials said the new telescope, with mirrors that will capture six times more light than its predecessor, will look even further into the origins of the universe, by seeing light emitted from even more distant objects.
NASA plans to launch a space shuttle mission next year to upgrade and maintain Hubble in order to keep it operational through 2013.
Without a repair mission, the telescope would shut down in 2009 or even earlier, dealing a blow to scientists who have relied on Hubble’s images to better understand the universe.
