NASA’s replacement to the Hubble Telescope is finally ready to be launched after 30 years in construction, according to ANU astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr Brad Tucker.
The James Webb Telescope will be launched at 11pm AEDT on Christmas Eve after the $11 billion project was plagued with numerous delays.
“This is kind of the new big version of Hubble, so telescopes are measured in how big the mirror is, so the Hubble space telescope’s mirror is 2.4 metres wide,” he told Sky News Australia. “The James Webb … is six and a half metres wide, so it’s much bigger than the Hubble space telescope.” Dr Tucker said the larger the mirror was, the greater the capability to see fainter lights and see further into space.
He said the mirror was an “engineering marvel” as due to its size, it will have to fold to get into the rocket and then slowly unfold when it is in space.
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