Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s more powerful successor, on brink of flight
- Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope, designed to peer farther than ever into the universe, set for Christmas Day launch
- The US$10 billion telescope has to unfold itself in space – a nail-biting manoeuvre Nasa has never attempted
The Hubble Space Telescope’s successor is a time-travelling wonder capable of peering back to within a hair’s breadth of the dawn of the universe. And it’s finally on the brink of flight.
It will be the biggest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever to leave the planet, elaborate in Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope its design and ambitious in its scope. At a budget-busting US$10 billion, it is the most expensive and also the trickiest, by far, to pull off.
Set to soar after years of delay, the James Webb Space Telescope will seek out the faint, twinkling light from the first stars and galaxies, providing a glimpse into cosmic creation. Its infrared eyes will also stare down black holes and hunt for alien worlds, scouring the atmospheres of planets for water and other possible hints of life.
“That’s why it’s worth taking risks. That’s why it’s worth the agony and the sleepless nights,” Nasa’s science mission chief Thomas Zurbuchen said.
Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said he’s more nervous now than when he launched on space shuttle Columbia in 1986.
“There are over 300 things, any one of which goes wrong, it is not a good day,” Nelson said. “So the whole thing has got to work perfectly.”
Lift-off from the coast of French Guiana in South America was set for Friday but has been postponed for at least a day, until Christmas at the earliest, because of high wind.