![]() This balance means that the JWST will not fall out of orbit and that very little of its limited fuel supply will be needed to keep it in a stable fixed position relative to Earth.Īs with any major research telescope, the JWST’s first few months were devoted to setting up its optics and instruments and testing its operational capabilities. At the L2 Lagrange point, the gravitational pull on the JWST perfectly balances the gravitational pull of the Sun. On January 24, 2022, it reached its final destination at the L2 Lagrange point in Earth’s orbit 930,000 miles from Earth. ![]() On December 25, 2021, it was launched into space. In September 2021, the JWST was transported by ship to Kourou, French Guiana, South America, where it was placed on an Ariane 5 rocket ready for launch. Hence, it is ideally suited to explore the highly redshifted part of the universe-that part of the universe that reveals the first few billion years of cosmic history.įigure 1: Comparison of the Sizes of the Primary Mirrors of the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes Unlike the HST, the JWST is designed to detect the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because of amazing design advances, the JWST is only half the weight of the HST. The JWST’s main mirror has more than seven times the light collecting area as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The diameter of its main mirror is 6.5 meters (21 feet). The JWST is as tall as a 3-story building and as long as a tennis court. ![]() In August 2021, I got to see the JWST up close during its final stages of assembly at the Northrup Grumman aerospace facility in Redondo Beach, California. At minimum, the JWST has already provided evidence of the structure and history of the early universe that carries big bang implications. This project’s scope is large and ambitious therefore, I think it’s worthwhile to explain some of the steps that have led to where we are, what we know, and what’s ahead. ![]() The much-anticipated James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has delivered its first images and created excitement and even controversy. ![]()
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