THE HIGH-RESOLUTION picture quality of NASA’s James Webb telescope allows it to capture deeper parts of what lies beyond the solar system.
After decades of planning and months of delays, the James Webb telescope was successfully launched by NASA on Christmas Day – and arrived in final orbit on January 24, 2022.
The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final position and NASA is set to retrieve the mechanism’s first shots of space[/caption]
Where is the James Webb space telescope?
Before arriving at its final destination, James Webb was moving through space, at eye-watering speed before remaining “parked” roughly a million miles from Earth.
This final position is where the JWST will conduct all of its space science.
It’s at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, which is an area where objects can stay largely put.
“This is truly a fantastic achievement. I am especially excited because the scientific lifetime of the mission is likely now longer than originally planned,” said UCL’s professor Richard Ellis, according to UK Research and Innovation.
He was the only Europe-based member of the panel that proposed JWST in 1996.
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“When one considers the huge impact of Hubble over many years, this augurs well for JWST.
“The astronomical community can’t wait to see the first dramatic images of the early universe, hopefully later this year.”
What stage is the James Webb telescope at?
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on December 25, 2021.
In the first two and a half days, the telescope was in its early deployment phase.
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Given James Webb’s massive size, the gold-plated mirrors that do the most important work are actually formed of 18 hexagonal parts that cleverly unpack and click together like a perfect puzzle.
But before all that can happen, the sun shield needed to be assembled.
This started from day three.
According to NASA Webb Telescope on Twitter, it marked the start of a “major phase” and when it began to “bloom like a flower”.
There are five layers, which help protect the sensitive optic kit from the sun.
That phase finished on day nine.
You can get live updates of exactly what stage the telescope is at by visiting NASA’s website.
On July 11, 2022, NASA revealed that the telescope captured its first full-colour images.
The organization planned on unveiling the photos on Tuesday, July 12, but decided to move the showcase up a day earlier.
The event on Monday, July 11, will unveil one of the first pictures from the JWT’s deep space exploration and the remaining images will be released the next Tuesday.
Spectators are able to view the exhibit through YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Twitter.
When will the James Webb telescope return?
The JWST will eventually run out of fuel.
Once the 5- to 10-year mission is complete, the JWST will likely fall out of orbit and become space debris.
The JWST is a significant distance from Earth, and there are no current plans to retrieve or refuel it.
In other news, NASA has slammed Russia after a missile it fired into one of its own satellites forced the space station to perform an emergency swerve.
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Scientists have figured out how fast a type of dinosaur could run – and it would have given Usain Bolt a run for his money.
And Google has confirmed that some of its smartphones are unable to call emergency services due to a software bug.
