The James Webb Space Telescope is the next
premier space observatory.
It will extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space
Telescope.
And observe the birthplaces of planets, stars
and galaxies.
It is named after James Webb. NASA's second administrator and champion
of many NASA science missions.
At 3 stories high and the size of a tennis court,
his will be the largest telescope ever sent into space.
And 100 times more powerful than Hubble.
It is so big it has to fold to fit in the
rocket only 5.5 meters wide.
And unfold segment by segment, once in space.
Webb's mirrors are coated with a super
thin layer of gold that is about 1000 atoms thick to optimize
their reflectivity in the infrared. Webb will launch
from French Guiana.
It is launched near the equator taking advantage of Earth's greater rotation
speed there to boost launch performance.
Webb will orbit the sun 1 million miles from Earth at
the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point. The telescope
will observe infrared light with unprecedented sensitivity.
It will see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang
over 13.5 billion years ago.
Webb's infrared cameras are so sensitive
they must block light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
The 5-layer sunshield is like having sunblock
of SPF 1 million.
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Webb is an international mission
with contributions from the European Space Agency
and Canadian Space Agency.
Scientists all over the world
will be able to use Webb
to explore further into space and back
into time.
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