When you want to launch something really big, what we call a flagship mission, it has to go through that process. In astronomy and astrophysics, every 10 years we have a decadal survey, which is where the National Academy of Sciences forms a committee that decides what all of American astronomy is going to do over the next decade. Why are astronomers so excited for the launch of this telescope? MacGregor sat down with CU Boulder Today to talk about how she, like other astronomers, has been waiting for this launch for a long time. (Credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez) Top: Meredith MacGregor bottom: Artist's depiction of James Webb in space with its mirror unfolded. The events were sponsored by Colorado-based Ball Aerospace, which designed and built the telescope’s unfolding mirror.
#Space telescope series
Meredith MacGregor, assistant professor in the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy (CASA) at CU Boulder, spoke about the science of James Webb at a series of events in November the Fiske Planetarium. Among other goals, James Webb will search the atmospheres of alien planets for what scientists call “biosignatures,” or gases that could, theoretically, indicate the presence of life on the surface. Many have dubbed James Webb a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope-an instrument that was launched in 1990 and has delivered startling images of the cosmos, including The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. The spacecraft, called the James Webb Space Telescope, brings a lot of risks: Its roughly 270-square-foot mirror, which will collect light streaming in from the far reaches of space, will launch folded up inside a rocket, then unfurl far from Earth.Īstronomers are betting that the challenges will be worth it. 24, NASA is set to launch its next flagship mission into space. (Credit: NASA/Desiree Stover)Įditor's note: A version of this Q&A was originally published Nov.
Banner image: Engineers work on James Webb's mirror, made up of 18 hexagonal segments, in a cleanroom at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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