The $10 million James Webb telescope lifts off on a historical mission from the earth. In French Guiana, Kourou spaceport, the observatory was lifted upward by an Ariane rocket. Webb is named after the successor of the Hubble telescope, who was the architect of the Apollo Moon landings. The new observatory is 100 times more powerful than the previous one. It is built by engineers from US, European and Canadian space agencies. It took half an hour to reach the orbit, with a signal confirming the successful result picked up by the ground antenna. The antenna was placed at Malindi in Kenya.
Meanwhile, American space agency (NASA) TV commentator Rob Navias expressed his opinions the moment the rocket left the Earth. He said, ‘’ lift off from tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, James Webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the Universe.’’
Excitedly awaited Journey
James Webb’s mission was excitedly awaited but also had been followed by a great deal of anxiety. Over the past 30 years, thousands of people worked on the project worldwide. Even though the Ariana is a very dependable vehicle, however, its rockets cannot be guaranteed. Over the next few months, there would be more complex activities following Webb’s launch. The telescope will observe a station some 1.5 million km beyond the earth.
Talking about unpacking the Webb, Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said, ‘’ this won’t be easy. We have to realize there are still innumerable things that have to work. They have to work perfectly. But we know that in great reward, there is a great risk. And that’s what this business is all about. And that’s why we dare to explore.’’
James Webb VS Hubble Telescope
The new telescope James Webb is with a 6.5m-wide golden mirror. That is almost three times wider than the primary reflector on the Hubble telescope. Its enlarged optics, combined with four super-sensitive instruments is to look deeper into space. Its major target would be the epoch of the pioneer starts. The stars that end the darkness theorized to have absorbed the cosmos shortly. Planetary Astronomer and interdisciplinary scientist on the mission, Heidi Hammel said, ‘’ We’re going to be entering a whole new regime of astrophysics, a new frontier; and that is what gets so many of us excited about the James Webb space telescope.’’
Also, Mark Mark McCaughrean, a senior science adviser with the European Space Agency explained, ‘’ and then the critical thing is that it has all has to get very cold. This telescope actually will be at minus 233 degrees Celsius. Only then will it stop glowing at the infrared wavelengths beyond the visible where we want this telescope to work.’’
