These days, we’re becoming more and more accustomed to watching and reading about multi-million-dollar
mission launches into space.
But, still, every once in a while, there comes along a landmark launch that promises to truly
change what we know about the solar system and the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope is one such mission, and after years of delays it is finally
getting off the ground.
This is Unveiled, and today we’re exploring all you need to know about the James Webb
Space Telescope.
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The James Webb Space Telescope, also more simply known as the Webb or the JWST, is a
joint initiative by NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), and CSA (the Canadian Space
Agency).
It’s making headlines in 2021, as its launch date nears ever closer, but work on the Webb
actually dates back to the mid-1990s, more than 25 years ago.
Back then it was more broadly known as the Next Generation Space Telescope, but it was
given a name change in 2002, in honour of the one-time NASA Administrator, James E.
Webb - who oversaw NASA during a crucial period between 1961 and 1968.
It was initially billed as “next generation”, though, because it was then (and is still
now) seen as the direct successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The entire world knows how successful Hubble has been over the years, so Webb certainly
has a tough act to follow.
So, why has it taken so long to get to this point of launch?
And what can we expect from Webb once it is up and running?
Well, it’s no secret that this telescope has had its fair share of the space technology
version of development hell.
Over the course of its history there have been manufacturing delays, ballooning cost
issues, and a notable rethink to the entire mission in the mid-2000s.
The machine we have today, however, has been ready to go since 2016, but various issues
have come up during preliminary testing and practice launches, all of which need to have
been safely and efficiently ironed out before it launches for real.
There were two delays announced in 2018, the entire project was put on hold during the
pandemic in 2020, and then there was a cancelled launch in October 2021.
But all signs are that the time has finally come.
But really, whenever it leaves Earth for the sky above, Webb is set to become one of the
most impressive, important, and exciting machines that the world has ever known.
The mission should last at least five years, not including a six-month commissioning phase
right at the beginning.
But those in charge are hoping and aiming for at least double that, and a ten-year mission
duration, or more.
Over that time, Webb has four main mission objectives, according to NASA: to learn more
about the earliest stars and structures after the Big Bang; to study how galaxies form;
to study how stars and star systems form; and to search other star systems for signs
of life.
If all goes to plan, it will achieve all of that from a position close to the L2 second
Lagrange point, which is a region in the solar system almost one million miles away from
Earth in the exact opposite direction to the sun.
This means that Earth will always be orbiting in between Webb and the sun, and the telescope
itself will always be looking outwards into the rest of space, with our star behind it.
Out of interest, by comparison, Hubble is a lot closer to home, orbiting Earth as it
does around 340 miles away, only.
On board Webb, there will be all manner of cutting-edge technology.
Although the vehicle itself will weigh roughly half what Hubble does, its primary mirror
- a spectacular looking, golden structure of eighteen, interconnected, smaller mirrors
- will fan out to more than five times the size of Hubble’s.
This will allow it to literally see more of space than ever before… but, also, its specific
design will enable it to view the universe across a different and wider section of the
light spectrum.
Webb is primarily an infrared telescope and, while Hubble has some capabilities here, it
will better its predecessor considerably.
Webb will also stretch out into mid-infrared range, picking up extremely faint, never-before-seen
light from across the cosmos.
Crucially, Webb’s infrared effectiveness depends on the telescope itself being kept
cool - as cool as minus-223 degrees Celsius, in fact - because otherwise heat from the
machine itself will mess with the measurements it can take, and Webb will fail in its goals.
To keep at such a low temperature, the telescope is fitted with a state-of-the-art sunshield,
which also serves to protect it from any other nearby sources of heat or light that could
cause similar problems - such as the sun.
This sunshield is, then, quite a feat of engineering, and is described by NASA as being five layers
thick and about the size of a tennis court.
The unfolding of the sunshield once Webb reaches its target location will be a critical moment
in the mission.
At launch, it will be tightly packed to ensure a streamlined payload… but then, when it
arrives at its eventual home hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth, it will fan out
(and hopefully without any problems).
Incredibly, some components of Webb will still require extra cooling to perform, even after
the sunshield, but the sunshield does the vast majority of the work.
Elsewhere, Webb is loaded to bursting with high tech gadgetry, cameras, spectrographs,
and detectors, all designed to peer out into space with better precision than ever before.
Working in the infrared spectrum, it’s expected that all of the many, many images that Webb
will process should be less affected by the gas and dust which typically clouds our view
of the universe.
This means that Webb should be far more sensitive to far fainter signals, meaning it should
pick up colder and smaller objects than most other machines, at hopefully much greater
distances.
This is fantastic news for the study of planets, for example, both near and far, which tend
to be (for obvious reasons) much less visible than the stars they orbit.
It’s also potentially vital for the study of star formation, though, which often happens
in amongst enormous, cosmic swirls of previously impenetrable debris.
It’s hoped that Webb might even be sensitive enough to monitor specific weather patterns
in detail, on planets that aren’t Earth.
And perhaps on exoplanets, that aren’t even in the solar system.
Of course, whenever any new mission designed to look into space is launched, one of the
first questions levelled at it is usually; will it discover aliens?
And, while the search for alien life isn’t the primary goal for Webb, there are reasons
for SETI enthusiasts to follow it closely.
Thanks to those infrared capabilities, Webb will not only be able to view more of space
physically, but it should also be able to look further back in time - toward the very
first stars and planets that formed, anywhere.
This means that scientists should be able to build both a more precise map and a more
precise timeline than ever before, charting the rise and fall of systems, the spread of
matter, and the differences and similarities between different parts of different galaxies.
Again, this probably won’t directly result in the discovery of aliens… but it will
better inform scientists of where to look with the best chances of finding them.
Ultimately, whether it’s aliens, exoplanets, far off stars or closeup galaxies, Webb will
be providing so much of our space data in the coming years.
And, as space travel booms in the private sector, and space agencies around the world
race to improve their knowledge, the “coming years” could well be some of the most crucial
and influential in the history of human space exploration.
There’s really no underestimating the role that Webb could play.
So, best mark your calendars for launch.
When Webb does go up, it will do so on board an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, with a reported
cost within the region of $10 billion dollars by the time it leaves the ground.
This massive, potentially world-changing project was begun in the latter years of the last
century… but it could become an iconic mission in this one.
It’ll be a few months even after launch before Webb starts sending images back to
Earth, but when it does we can expect those images to outshine all that have come before
them.
The universe will never have looked quite like this.
And that’s all you need to know about the James Webb Space Telescope.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
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