NASA finally reveals Hubble Space Telescope’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope – TomoNews
GREENBELT, MARYLAND — Engineers recently revealed to the public the massive array of gold mirrors that will be the heart of the next generation space telescope. The James Webb Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope’s successor, will house the largest mirror ever to be sent to space when it launches in October 2018.
Each of the hexagonal mirrors that make up the primary mirror on the Webb telescope is made from ultra-lightweight beryllium and coated in vaporized gold. Each mirror weighs roughly 46 pounds. According to Tech Times, the gold coating boosts the infrared light reflectivity of the primary mirror.
The new telescope’s 6.5-meter-long diameter is made from 18 of these mirror segments. In comparison, the Hubble telescope’s primary mirror has a diameter of 2.4 meters. According to a statement released by NASA, the Hubble telescope is about the size of a school bus, whereas the Webb telescope’s size is comparable to a tennis court.
The Webb telescope will go through many rigorous tests before its launch in a couple years to ensure that the telescope is ready for space.
While the Hubble telescope currently orbits earth, the new telescope will sit at the Earth-Sun second Lagrange point 1.5 million kilometers away, and follow Earth’s movements around the sun. This distance shelters the Webb telescope from radiation and prevents it from being blinded by its own infrared light.
According to NASA, scientists around the world will use this new telescope to capture images of the first galaxies that appeared in the universe over 13.5 billion years ago.
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