Hubble telescope heir, James Webb telescope will be ready on time: confirmation from NASA

NASA today confirmed plans for the James Webb telescope. Management said that both the current budget and plans to launch the space telescope for 2018 are relevant. It is worth noting that the agency itself is considering this telescope, more likely as the next Hubble model than its replacement.

The capabilities of the telescope far exceed the capabilities of Hubble. James Webb will have a composite mirror 6.5 meters in diameter (Hubble mirror diameter 2.4 meters) with a collecting surface of 25 m² and a sun shield the size of a tennis court. The telescope will be placed at the Lagrange point L2 of the Sun - Earth system.



James Webb will be able to travel to the distant past of the Universe - for a time from 100 to 250 million years after the Big Bang. In other words, the new telescope will be able to look much deeper into the depths of outer space than the Hubble, which can “travel” no more than 800 million - 1 billion years after the Big Bang. In addition, Webb is not "imprisoned" under visible light, its specialization is the infrared spectrum. However, James Webb can also fix the radiation visible to the human eye.


Simulation of what the James Webb telescope “sees” and what the Hubble sees at the same point in space

Project implementation challenges

The main problem of such large projects as James Webb and Hubble is the budget. That the first, that the second project went beyond the budget. But, since a significant part of the budget has already been spent, there is nothing left but to continue the implementation of plans.

In the case of Hubble, the situation was complicated by the fact that the mirror was initially improperly installed. This affected the capabilities of the telescope, and much time passed than the error was corrected by an external expedition, during which correction lenses were installed.

As for James Webb, the mistake here is unforgivable. As mentioned above, a new telescope is planned to be installed at the Lagrange point L2. If something goes wrong, you have to forget about the project. Nevertheless, the chances of a successful implementation of the project are quite significant.