World's Largest Space Telescope Is Complete, Expected to Launch in 2018

World’s Largest Space Telescope Is Complete, Expected to Launch in 2018

Posted date: November 04, 2016in: NewsNo Comments

By Sarah Lewin

After more than 20 years of construction, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is complete and, following in-depth testing, the largest-ever space telescope is expected to launch within two years, NASA officials announced today (Nov. 2).

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden hosted a news conference to announce the milestone this morning at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, overlooking the 18 large mirrors that will collect infrared light, sheltered behind a tennis-court-size sun shield. JWST is considered the successor to NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope.

“Today, we’re celebrating the fact that our telescope is finished, and we’re about to prove that it works,” said John Mather, an astrophysicist and senior project scientist for the telescope. “We’ve done two decades of innovation and hard work, and this is the result — we’re opening up a whole new territory of astronomy.” [How NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Works (Infographic)]