The United States Space Agency (NASA) has high hopes for the James Webb space telescope to reveal the secrets of the universe that are still a mystery to this day.
James Webb will be launched on Saturday (25/12) from the Guiana Space Center, Kourou, French Guiana local time.
"(The James Webb Telescope) is the most advanced technology. If the launch is successful, it will unlock the secrets of an extraordinary, even almost extraordinary, universe," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, quoted from Space, Friday (12/24/2021).
Furthermore, Nelson said that James Webb can provide an understanding of who humans are, why they are here, and how it all evolved. The mystery of that question became the big mission that NASA put on the James Webb Space Telescope.
Unlike the Hubble telescope, James Webb has sophistication, one of which is embedded infrared light. With the help of an extra-large mirror six times the size of Hubble, it can detect infrared light from very faint and distant stars and galaxies.
It is what helps scientists and researchers 'return' back in time, to some of the earliest light in the observable universe.
"(James Webb) will look through a keyhole in the sky. In one case, it will peer back over 13 billion years to capture infrared light from the light emitted at the formation of the first galaxy about 250 million years after the Big Bang, which is 13 and a half billion last year," he said.
In addition, James Webb is also tasked with identifying and studying alien planets, exoplanets, which can determine the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere.
"Later we can determine, whether there is a habitable atmosphere like ours orbiting around the sun, it will be very interesting to know," said Nelson.
The James Webb Space Telescope was built for more than 20 years at a cost of over $10 billion. If the launch is problematic or even fails, NASA will certainly be distraught.
The telescope was carried by an Ariana 5 rocket and flown from the runway in French Guiana. Last month, there was a technical problem that caused the delay.
Even in space, the James Webb Space Telescope still has to undergo a complex series of operations that can take up to six months to operate.