“James Webb” telescope is about to launch into space

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After decades of planning, cost explosions and several postponements, the largest and most powerful telescope in space history to date is set to set off into space on Saturday (1:20 p.m. German time). The “James Webb Space Telescope” (JWST) – a roughly ten billion dollar cooperation between the space agencies of the USA, Canada and Europe – is to be launched on board an “Ariane” launcher from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.

The JWST should take around four weeks to reach the target orbit 1.5 million kilometers away. The first data and images from the telescope are not expected until summer at the earliest.

The JWST is to be the successor to the “Hubble” telescope, which has been in use for more than 30 years. Among other things, it is supposed to provide images from the early universe with the help of a 25 square meter mirror. Scientists hope this will provide new insights into how our universe came into being. The lifespan of “James Webb” is initially around ten years.

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