Launched in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been billed by NASA as the world’s premier space science observatory.
The telescope is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which was the first complex observatory placed into orbit around Earth in 1990.
According to NASA, JWST is as tall as a three-story building and as long as a tennis court, making it the largest space telescope ever built. Webb’s primary mirror is made up of 18 hexagonal gold-plated mirrors specifically designed to reflect as much light as possible.
The JWST is a joint project between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
It is named after NASA’s second administrator James E. Webb, who is best known for leading the Apollo program that eventually landed the first humans on the moon.
According to NASA, the telescope sees the universe using infrared radiation, a form of light that we feel as heat but is invisible to human eyes. Orbiting far beyond Earth’s moon, Webb’s sensitive instruments can detect infrared radiation from solar system planets, exoplanets, stars, nebulae and galaxies.
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Scientists have said Webb’s observations will help us better understand the early universe, how galaxies and stars change over time and the characteristics of other worlds.
NASA has said Webb is designed for a primary five-year mission but could last for a decade or more.