Webb Mission Historical past – NASA Science

The Next Generation Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope, like different NASA missions, began with a query. That query—“what’s next?”—was first raised in 1989 even earlier than the Hubble Space Telescope launched.

At the beginning, scientists from NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute knew they wanted a telescope to observe up on discoveries made by Hubble. It wasn’t till the mid-Nineties that the concept of an infrared telescope with a mirror bigger than 4 meters (roughly 13 ft), known as the Next Generation Space Telescope, was formally proposed and authorized.

Over the subsequent a number of many years, international space agencies, NASA centers, and industry and academic partners had been chosen to assemble elements of the telescope, contribute testing amenities, and supply steering on its growth.

Construction on Webb started in 2004. The 18-segment major mirror was accomplished by 2011, and by the top of 2015, all 4 of Webb’s scientific devices had been delivered to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the place they and the whole Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) accomplished cryogenic testing. 

In 2018, all parts of Webb’s flight elements had been delivered to Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California, and the next 12 months, Webb’s two halves had been linked.

Final environmental and communications testing continued till Webb was folded and stowed for the ultimate time in 2021, then shipped to Kourou, French Guiana for launch.

Post-Launch

After the December 25, 2021 launch, Webb entered the six-month commissioning interval earlier than starting routine science operations.

Webb accomplished commissioning in the summertime of 2022. On the night of July 11, 2022, President Joe Biden unveiled the primary full-color picture from the James Webb Space Telescope. The following morning, full-color pictures and spectroscopic information for a further 4 targets had been launched, demonstrated the telescope’s talents at full energy to discover the infrared universe.