Page 38 - Life beyond the Karman

position above Earth’s atmosphere gives it a pristine view of the universe and allows it to see wavelengths that are blocked or partially filtered by the atmosphere.
The James Webb Space Telescope
The largest telescope ever sent into space, the JWST joins a great legacy of space-based astronomy.
NASA’s space telescope missions have revolutionised our understanding of the universe and our place within it. The Webb Space Telescope has the high resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope and the ability to detect light wavelengths into the mid-infrared range. Its infrared-detecting technology reveals the hidden universe to our eyes: stars shrouded in clouds of dust, water in the atmospheres of other worlds, and the first light from the earliest galaxies ever formed.
The Webb Telescope’s mission builds on the legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope’s powerful imaging capability and
the Spitzer Space Telescope’s ability to detect light beyond the visible spectrum into the mid-infrared range. Because infrared light travels through dense gas clouds that block visible light, it will reveal previously hidden regions of the universe: early galaxies, forming planets, brown dwarfs, and much more.
Its innovative design tackles the two main challenges for an infrared telescope: it has to have a large mirror to capture enough light; and it has to be kept cold to keep unwanted sources of infrared from interfering with the light being observed. Wide sunshields protect it from stray heat and light from the sun, while its large segmented mirror—18 segments covering 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) at its widest point—enables it to effectively capture infrared light.
Launching such a large mirror into space was another huge challenge. Both the sunshield and the mirrors of this origami- inspired folding telescope were designed to unfold after the telescope separates from its launch vehicle.
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LIFE BEYOND THE KÁRMÁN LINE - OUTER SPACE
The James Webb Space Telescope