The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to head to space on Dec. 18, 2021.
I aman astronomerand theprincipal investigator for the Near Infrared Camera orNIRCamfor short aboard the Webb telescope.
I have participated in the development and testing for both my camera and the telescope as a whole.
But getting a fragile piece of equipment like this to space is no simple task.
It works kind of like a satellite dish.
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It may even be possible to figure out the composition of these atmospheres.
How did they first form?
And how have they changed over time?
The Webb telescope was originally dubbed theFirst Light Machinebecause it is designed to answer these very questions.
It takes billions of years for the light from these galaxies to cross the universe and reach Earth.
This is where the heat shield comes in.
The shield is made of a thin plastic coated with aluminum.
Everything has been cooled and tested under the extreme operating conditions of orbit.
The telescope will be controlled remotely by commands sent over a radio link.
We need to wait 35 days after launch for the parts to cool before beginning alignment.
After the mirror unfolds, NIRCam will snap sequences of high-resolution images of the individual mirror segments.
Once the motors move the mirrors into position, we will confirm that telescope alignment is perfect.
This alignment and checkout process should take six months.
When finished, Webb will begin collecting data.
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