Enlarge / NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was placed in the historic Johnson Space Center’s Camera A for vacuum testing on June 20, 2017.
It has been six months since a European rocket launched the James Webb space telescope into orbit. Since then, the ultracomplex telescope has successfully deployed its extensive sunscreen, commissioned its scientific instruments, and reached an observation point hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth.
This period of white core in space followed almost two decades of effort to design, build and test the telescope on Earth before its launch on Christmas Day 2021. But now all that effort is in the rearview mirror. and the huge Webb. The 6.5-meter-diameter mirror looks outward and collects scientific data and images. It is the largest and most powerful telescope that humans have ever put into space, and it is already revealing new ideas about our cosmos.
“The images are being taken right now,” Thomas Zurbuchen, who heads NASA’s science programs, said during a press conference Wednesday. “There’s already an incredible science in the can, and more are yet to be taken as we move forward. We’re in the midst of downloading history data.”
NASA said it plans to release several images from 10:30 a.m. ET (14:30 UTC) on July 12, the result of observations of Webb’s “first light.” On Wednesday, space agency officials said the images and other data would include the deepest field image in the universe ever made, looking more at the cosmos than humans, as well as the spectrum of an atmosphere around an exoplanet. Looking at the infrared, Webb will be able to identify the fingerprints of small molecules, such as carbon dioxide and ozone, that will provide significant clues about the habitability of worlds around other stars.
Announcements
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said she was impressed by the images Webb has produced so far. “What I saw moved me, as a scientist, as an engineer, and as a human being,” he said.
The telescope is healthy. Thanks to an accurate launch of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 5 rocket, Webb should have enough maneuvering propulsion on board for 20 years of life. And although there are already five micrometeoroid impacts, the telescope was designed to account for these small, far-margin impacts.
Recounting his first encounter with Webb data, Zurbuchen said he was also amazed at what the telescope had shown to be capable of. He said he almost cried when he looked at the first photos taken by the new instrument.
“It’s very hard not to look at the universe in a new light and not just have a deeply personal moment,” he said. “It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly release some of its secrets. And I’d like you to imagine it and wait for it.”
What a joke!
Unfortunately, we will have to wait almost two full weeks to see the final products of Webb’s first observations. NASA said it will not release any images before, even with embargo. But we’ve waited 20 years for Webb to go online and offer a truly worthy successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. I guess we can wait a little longer.
If we have to.