• Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Opinion
Sunday, 2 April, 2023
  • Login
topfmonline.com
 
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Foreign
No Result
View All Result
topfmonline.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Technology

The world’s most powerful space telescope has launched

TOPFM NEWS by TOPFM NEWS
December 27, 2021
in Technology
A A
0
The world’s most powerful space telescope has launched
0
SHARES
3
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope has rocketed away on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for hints of life.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope soared from French Guiana on South America’s northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane rocket into the morning sky on Saturday.

The $9bn observatory hurtled towards its destination 1.6 million kilometres (1 million miles) away – or more than four times beyond the moon. It will take a month to get there and another five months before its infrared eyes are ready to start scanning the cosmos.

First, the telescope’s enormous mirror and sunshield need to unfurl; they were folded origami-style to fit into the rocket’s nose cone. Otherwise, the observatory will not be able to peer back in time 13.7 billion years as anticipated, within a mere 100 million years of the universe-forming Big Bang.

“It’s going to give us a better understanding of our universe and our place in it: who we are, what we are, the search that’s eternal,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said earlier this week.

But he cautioned: “When you want a big reward, you have to usually take a big risk.”

Reporting from Kourou, French Guiana, Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo said the historic mission which has “revolutionised astronomy” is “going to allow scientists to peer back in time to the early stages of our universe”.

“Scientists are also going to be able to examine the atmospheres of planets and determine whether or not planets could not only be habitable and suitable for humans to possibly one day colonise, but to determine whether or not those conditions are optimal for life,” he said.

‘Launch for humanity’

Intended as a successor to the ageing Hubble Space Telescope, the long-delayed James Webb is named after NASA’s administrator during the 1960s.

NASA partnered with the European and Canadian space agencies to build and launch the new 7-tonne telescope, with thousands of people from 29 countries working on it since the 1990s.

Around the world, astronomers had eagerly waited to see Webb finally taking flight after years of setbacks. Last-minute technical snags bumped the launch nearly a week, then gusty wind pushed it to Christmas.

“We launch for humanity this morning,” Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel said minutes before liftoff. “After Webb, we will never see the skies in quite the same way.”

Klaus Pontipiddan, one of the scientists involved in the Webb Project, told Al Jazeera from Baltimore, US that it was “a beautiful launch”.

“It was just beautiful to see everything went off without a hitch,” he said. “We hope that we can now see the first galaxies formed in the universe almost 13-and-a-half billion years ago.”

The telescope’s showpiece: a gold-plated mirror more than 6.5 metres (21 feet) across.

Protecting the observatory is a wispy, five-layered sunshield, vital for keeping the light-gathering mirror and heat-sensing infrared detectors at subzero temperatures. At 21 by 14 metres (70 by 46 feet), it is the size of a tennis court.

If all goes well, the sunshield will be opened three days after liftoff, taking at least five days to unfold and lock into place. Next, the mirror segments should open up like the leaves of a drop-leaf table, 12 days or so into the flight.

In all, hundreds of release mechanisms need to work perfectly in order for the telescope to succeed. “Like nothing we’ve done before,” NASA programme director Greg Robinson said.

Related Posts

TikTok launches an elections hub in Kenya ahead of General Elections

TikTok launches an elections hub in Kenya ahead of General Elections

July 15, 2022
10
Facebook to allow up to five profiles tied to one account

Facebook to allow up to five profiles tied to one account

July 15, 2022
4
Source: SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Tags: James Webb SpaceTelescope
Previous Post

‘I Happily Married Again’ – Funny Face’s Baby Mama, Venessa Blushes As She Talks About New Husband

Next Post

Android 13 leak reveals new features that Google is working on

Related Posts

TikTok launches an elections hub in Kenya ahead of General Elections
Technology

TikTok launches an elections hub in Kenya ahead of General Elections

July 15, 2022
10
Facebook to allow up to five profiles tied to one account
Technology

Facebook to allow up to five profiles tied to one account

July 15, 2022
4
Microsoft releases tweet-size exploit for macOS sandbox escape bug
Technology

Microsoft releases tweet-size exploit for macOS sandbox escape bug

July 14, 2022
9
Final Android 13 beta arrives ahead of its official launch ‘in the weeks ahead’
Technology

Final Android 13 beta arrives ahead of its official launch ‘in the weeks ahead’

July 14, 2022
2
Ex-CIA engineer Joshua Schulte convicted over massive data leak
Technology

Ex-CIA engineer Joshua Schulte convicted over massive data leak

July 14, 2022
2
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 with model name SM-F936U certified by FCC
Technology

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 with model name SM-F936U certified by FCC

July 13, 2022
2
Next Post
Android 13 leak reveals new features that Google is working on

Android 13 leak reveals new features that Google is working on

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

BROWSE BY TOPICS

2022 Budget Afghanistan akufo addo Amazon Apiate explosion apple AT&T Black Stars covid COVID-19 COVID 19 E-Levy facebook Fuel Ghana Police Service Google Government health Intel iphone Mahama Majority Microsoft Minority momo NDC news NLC NPP Nvidia OMICRON Parliament police Russia security South Africa Taliban tech Tesla twitter US UTAG vaccine vaccines Xinjiang

Recent Posts

  • New revenue bills approval: Your walkout won’t affect us – Majority tells minority
  • Bawumia Must Win (BMW) Agenda Campaign Launched
  • Prove Seth Terkper’s authorisation for Letters of Credits – Judge tells Ato Forson
  • We’ll vote against govt’s new tax bills – Mahama Ayariga
  • ECG releases nationwide ‘Dumsor’ timetable

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

RECENT NEWS

  • New revenue bills approval: Your walkout won’t affect us – Majority tells minority March 31, 2023
  • Bawumia Must Win (BMW) Agenda Campaign Launched March 31, 2023
  • Prove Seth Terkper’s authorisation for Letters of Credits – Judge tells Ato Forson March 31, 2023
  • We’ll vote against govt’s new tax bills – Mahama Ayariga March 31, 2023

MAIN CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

Entertainment

US Veep Kamala Harris hails impact of medical drone delivery in Ghana
Health

US Veep Kamala Harris hails impact of medical drone delivery in Ghana

4 days ago
1
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

© 2023 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2023 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In