As scheduled, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day, 25 December 2021. It is a tripartite astronomical venture by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
The James Webb Space Telescope has been devised to become the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope and is projected as an essential strategic mission of NASA in astrophysics.
The launching of JWST took place on 25 December on the 256th Ariane mission or Ariane Flight VA256.
Why was the James Webb Space Telescope designed?
JWST was designed to offer better responsiveness and infrared resolution on Hubble. It will also facilitate a wide variety of explorations throughout the domains of cosmology and uranology. The explorations and studies comprise surveillances of some of the remotest happenings and tangible entities in the Universe, like the creation of the oldest galaxies, and permitting detailed atmospherical depiction of prospectively livable exoplanets.
Which is the operations center of the James Webb Space Telescope?
The James Webb Space Telescope mission operational hub is STSCI (The Space Telescope Science Institute).
What are the components of JWST?
Following are the key components of the James Webb Space Telescope:
- Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM)
- Ballistic capsule (Sunshield and Bus)
- Optical Telescope Component
What is the duration of the mission?
The mission’s planned duration is ten years, and one day has elapsed from this duration.
What is the cost of the mission?
The lifetime expenditure to be borne by NASA for the venture is estimated to be around US $9.7 billion.
Who is the fabricator of the spacecraft?
The fabricators of the JWST spaceship are Ball Aerospace and Northrop Grumman Corporation, both US-based companies dealing with defense technologies and fabrication of spaceships.
What is the launch mass of JWST?
The launch mass of the spaceship is 13,584 lb or 6,161.4 kilograms.
What are the dimensions of JWST?
The dimensions of the spacecraft are as follows:
66.26 feet × 46.46 feet (20.197 m × 14.162 m), sunshield.
How much power does JWST consume?
JWST consumes 2 kW power.
Which is the launch location of the James Webb Space Telescope?
The launching site of the space telescope was Centre Spatial Guyanais (The Guiana Space Centre, ELA-3).
Who is the contractor of the mission?
Arianespace SA, a France-based firm set up in 1980, won the contract of the launching service of JWST.
Orbital parameters of JWST
Regime: The regime of the spaceship is Halo orbit.
Reference system: The reference system followed by the spaceship is the Sun-Earth L2 orbit.
Periapsis elevation: The periapsis elevation of JWST is 160,000 miles (250,000 km).
Apoapsis elevation: The Apoapsis elevation of JWST is 517,000 miles (832,000 km).
Orbital period: The orbital period of the James Webb Space Telescope is six months.
Principal telescope datasheet
Type of telescope: Korsch
Focal length: The focal length of this space telescope is 431 feet (131.4 m).
Wavelengths: The wavelengths of JWST are 0.6–28.3 μm (ranging from orange to mid-infrared).
Collecting area: The collecting area of the space telescope is 273 sq feet (25.4 m2).
Transponders
The telescope will use S-band for trailing, measurement, and operation, and Ka-band for collecting data.
Bandwidth
- 40 kbit/s for S-band down
- 16 kbit/s for S-band up
- up to 28 Mbit/s for Ka-band down
Participation
Thousands of technologists and scientists from the following nations have made this pathbreaking mission possible:
- Belgium
- Austria
- Czech Republic
- Canada
- Finland
- Denmark
- Germany
- France
- Ireland
- Greece
- Luxembourg
- Italy
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Portugal
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- United States
- United Kingdom
What are the primary goals of JWST?
The four primary goals of the James Webb Space Telescope are:
- To examine the creation and transformation of galaxies
- To look for light from the oldest galaxies and celestial bodies that originated in the Universe following the Big Bang
- To explore the sources of life and planetary systems
- To know the creation of planetary systems and celestial bodies
What are the scientific instruments that accompany JWST?
The Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) model has been used to design JWST, and it is made up of the following scientific tools together with a guide camera:
- Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam)
- Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec)
- Fine Guidance Sensor and Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS)
- Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI)
As expected, the US $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day, and it will provide improved visuals of the deep space and help astronomy enthusiasts explore the uncharted territories of the Universe.
