NASA's Next Great Space Telescope   
       
   April 8, 2016:  Newsflash: Assembly of the next great space observatory, the   
   James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is now underway at NASA's Goddard Space   
   Flight Center. Launch target: 2018.   
       
   JWST is an infrared telescope, which means it will sense the heat of stars and   
   galaxies millions and even billions of light years away.   
       
   Eric Smith, JWST Program Director and Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters   
   in Washington, DC says, "It will show us the first stars and galaxies that   
   formed in the early universe. We'll be able to watch the universe light up for   
   the first time!"   
       
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ufkTUZAiqE   
       
   A really big mirror is required to collect light from objects more than 13   
   billion light years away. The telescope's mirror is so large -- 21 feet 4   
   inches across -- that it will have to be folded with its sunshield when it's   
   time to fit in a rocket for launch.   
       
   There are 18 mirror segments, each 4.3 feet in diameter, that have recently   
   been mounted on the structure that will ultimately hold them in place and let   
   them perform as if they were part of a single giant hexagonal mirror. Once the   
   telescope is fully assembled and attached to the instrument module, the whole   
   unit will be vibration and acoustic tested.   
       
   Final cryogenic testing takes place at Johnson Space Centerin early 2017 in   
   the same vacuum chamber that tested the Apollo lunar lander. Then the   
   telescope will be integrated with the spacecraft and sunshield at Northrop   
   Grumman in Redondo Beach, California.   
       
   Next, it will be placed in a special transportation container on a large ship   
   to voyage from California through the Panama Canal to Kourou, French Guiana,   
   where it will catch a ride to space on an Ariane 5 rocket supplied by the   
   European Space Agency.   
       
   And then?   
       
   In addition to showing us the universe's first `fireworks', the world's   
   largest infrared telescope will be a canny explorer of planets circling   
   faraway stars. JWST will be able to carry out detailed, high precision   
   follow-up studies of the myriad of exoplanets other telescopes have been   
   flushing out of hiding.   
       
   Smith says "It will be like taking a deep breath of an alien planet's   
   atmosphere."   
       
   The JWST telescope will be very good at observing and taking spectra of gas   
   giant planets where it could detect, water, carbon dioxide and methane among   
   other compounds. It will also be used to take some spectral data on smaller   
   planets. Webb will also zoom in to study newly discovered super Earths. Using   
   a technique called coronagraphy, the telescope will even be able to find   
   planets on its own.   
       
   There will no doubt be surprises - in addition to exoplanets -- along the way.   
       
   "The science community is very creative," says Smith. "They'll think up things   
   for JWST to do that we never even imagined."   
       
   For more on the exciting future of science, stay tuned to science.nasa.gov   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + Windows 10   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)