About the James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) will be the most powerful telescope every launched into space. It is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2021, from the European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana, in SouthAmerica.
Webb is optimized for infrared wavelengths. It will be able to detect longer wavelengths than the Hubble Space Telescope does, so it will be able to see galaxies that were formed in the early universe. Webb will also be able to see inside nebula and dust clouds were planets and stars are forming.
Webb Launch and Deployment
The Webb Telescope Deployment Sequence video which details what happens at launch and after launch is available HERE.
| Launch! | |
| 0-26 minutes | Ariane rocket provides thrust. |
| 3.5 minutes | payload fairing separation |
| 30 minutes | launch vehicle separation solar array deployment |
| 2 hours | high gain antennae deployment |
| 12 hours | first trajectory correction maneuver |
| 2.5 days | second trajectory correction maneuver |
| 2.5 to 6 days | fore and aft sunshield pallets deployment telescope and spacecraft bus separation tower assembly deployment full sunshield deployment secondary mirror and side wings mirror deployment |
| one month | flight software initialization mid-course correction |
| two months | Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS), Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), and Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) turned on NIRCam takes first image mirror segments are focused |
| three months | primary mirror segments alignment Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI) turned on Webb arrives at orbit position!* |
| four to six months | instrument calibration Webb begins its scientific mission! |
* Webb will orbit the Sun at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), which is approximately 1 million miles (1.5 million km) away from Earth.
Video of the orbit available HERE.
More information about Lagrange points available HERE.
Want more details about the launch? Visit HERE.
Webb Mission
(from jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/facts.html)
- Search for the first galaxies or luminous objects formed after the Big Bang
- Determine how galaxies evolved from their formation until now
- Observe the formation of stars from the first stages to the formation of planetary systems
- Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems, including our own Solar System, and investigate the potential for life in those systems
Videos
| The JWST Mission Overview | 3.43 minutes |
| The JWST Deployment Sequence | 12.02 minutes |
| What is a Galaxy? | 2.29 minutes |
| Let’s Build a Galaxy | 5.55 minutes |
| Galaxies through Time | 2.40 minutes |
| How do Space Telescopes Break Down Light? | 2.15 minutes |
| Reading the Rainbow: Temperature | 0.54 minutes |
| What is Temperature? | 0.44 minutes |
| Reading the Rainbow: Distance | 1.01 minutes |
| Reading the Rainbow: Speed | 1.05 minutes |
| Reading the Rainbow: Planets | 0.57 minutes |
| How do we Learn about a Planet’s Atmosphere? | 2.11 minutes |
| Looking Back in Time | 2.02 minutes |
| What were the Universe’s Dark Ages? | 1.21 minutes |
| Video Galleries | |
| https://webbtelescope.org/resource-gallery/videos | |
| https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/multimedia/videos.html | |
| https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Gallery/JWST.html | |
| All About Webb | |
| JWST Video Snap Shots | |
| JWST Deployment Videos |
Resources for Everybody
Resources for preK-2
- Webb Coloring Activities
- JWST Webb Telescope Fun Pad
- Build the Webb Telescope’s Mirror
- Color Your Universe: Find the Hidden Objects (as guided activity)
Resources for 3-5
- Beyond Visible Light
- Build It Yourself: Satellite! Game
- Scope it Out! (a game about telescopes)
- Taking a Closer Look: Examining Light and Telescopes
- JWST Webb Telescope Fun Pad
- JWST Folding Fun Puzzle
- Life Cycle of a Massive Star
- Journey of the Mirrors
- Everything Emits Infrared Energy–Even You!
- Webb Origami (as demo)
- Color Your Universe: Find the Hidden Objects
Resources for 6-8
- JWST: Why space telescopes are important
- Space Math
- Detecting the Most Distant Supernova in the Universe
(analyzing graphs) - Exploring the Cosmos with Supercomputers
(scale models, proportions, scientific notation) - Seeing the Distant Universe Clearly
(solving simple equations for X, angular measure, scientific notation) - Cosmological Redshift–Changing the Light from a Galaxy
(solving simple equations for X) - Cryogenics
(solving simple equations) - Taking a Closer Look: Examining Light and Telescopes
- Webb Origami
- Webb Telescope and the Big Bang
- Beyond Visible Light
- JWST Folding Fun Puzzle
- Life Cycle of a Massive Star
- Build It Yourself: Satellite! Game
- Scope it Out! (a game about telescopes)
- Journey of the Mirrors
- NASA Telescope eBooks
(written at high school level, so teacher guided reading recommended)
Resources for 9-12
- Space Math
- Exploring the Cosmos with Supercomputers
- (scale models, proportions, scientific notation)
- Seeing the Distant Universe Clearly
- (solving simple equations for X, angular measure, scientific notation)
- Cosmological Redshift–Changing the Light from a Galaxy
- (solving simple equations for X)
- Cryogenics
- (solving simple equations)
- Taking a Closer Look: Examining Light and Telescopes
- Webb Origami
- Webb Telescope and the Big Bang
- Beyond Visible Light
- Make a Model of the Webb Space Telescope
- Build It Yourself: Satellite! Game
- Scope it Out! (a game about telescopes)
- Journey of the Mirrors
- Cool Cosmos (your infrared guide to the world and the Universe beyond)
- NASA Telescope eBooks