JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
MISSION OF 2021
JWST
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The JWST is designed to travel far away from earth to observe things that we have never seen before, Sutter claims that "It will be observing entirely in the infrared, barely scratching the deepest possible reds that a human can see." JWST is an infrared scope, which means JWST needs perfect dark space to observe the area surrounding the telescope. The reason JWST has to be sent far away is because earth generates too much light pollution, and light pollution will make JWST extremely difficult to observe for JWST (Sutter). For observations, JWST needs to utilize a special device designed to block out light from other bright stars; JWST then can use its observatory to take photos of objects surrounding these stars. "Those planets will be glowing in the infrared, and the light from those planets will be modified by the chemicals and elements in their atmospheres, chemicals, and elements which might be signs of life". The feature of JWST makes the discovery of new life possible (Sutter).
CHALLENGE OF THE MISSION
JWST is one of the missions that has been delayed, and the cost of the telescope is the reason for delays. "NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is (currently) scheduled to launch in March of 2021, after years of delays and billions of dollars spent over budget" (Sutter). But there is another challenge JWST has to face: Heat. To shield JWST from heat, "JWST will deploy a giant, expensive space umbrella, 72 feet (22 meters) long and 36 feet (11 m) wide, made of five layers of extremely reflective material, each layer thinner than a human hair." This will keep JWST in the shadow and away from heat (Sutter).
MISSION STATISTICS
Weight of JWST: 14000
Price of JWST: 10 billion (Sutter)