It has been six months since a European rocket launched the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. Since then, the extremely sophisticated telescope has successfully unfurled its extended solar shield, commissioned its scientific instruments, and reached a point of observation hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth.
This period of white joints in space followed almost two decades of effort to design, build and test the telescope on Earth before launching it on Christmas Day 2021. But now, all that effort is in the rearview mirror and the Webb’s tremendous effort The 6.5-meter-diameter mirror looks out and collects scientific data and images. It is the largest and most powerful telescope humans have ever put into space and is already revealing new ideas for our world.
“The images are being taken right now,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, who heads NASA’s science program, during a news conference Wednesday. “There is already some amazing science in the box, and some more should not be taken yet as we go along. We are in the middle of removing story creation data.”
NASA said it plans to release many images by 10:30 a.m. ET (14:30 UTC) on July 12, the result of Webb’s “first light” observations. On Wednesday, space agency officials said the images and other data would include the image of the universe in the deepest field ever taken – looking farther into the world than humans have done in the past – as well as the spectrum of an atmosphere. around an exoplanet. Looking at infrared, Webb will be able to identify small molecule fingerprints, such as carbon dioxide and ozone, that provide important clues to the habitability of worlds around other stars.
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NASA Deputy Director Pam Melroy said he was excited by the images Webb has created so far. “What I have seen moved me, as a scientist, as an engineer and as a human being,” he said.
The telescope is sound. Thanks to an accurate launch from the European Space Agency’s Ariane 5 rocket, Webb should have enough maneuvering propulsion on board for 20 years of life. And although five micrometeorological impacts have already occurred, the telescope was designed to take into account these small, multi-margin impacts.
Recounting his first encounter with data from Webb, Zurbuchen said he too was in awe of what he had proven the telescope was capable of. He said he almost cried when he saw the first photos taken by the new instrument.
“It’s really hard not to look at the universe in a new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal,” he said. “It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly release some of its secrets. And I would like you to imagine it and look forward to it.”
What a joke!
Unfortunately, we have to wait almost two whole weeks to see the final products from Webb’s first comments. NASA said it would not release any images in time, even on an embargo basis. But we waited 20 years for Webb to come online and offer a truly worthy successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. I guess we can wait a little longer.
If you have to.
