countdown to launch the largest space telescope in history

After the Apollo mission, which in 1969 took man to the moon, is NASA’s most ambitious and expensive mission. It could also become the biggest failure of the US space agency. In this video we explain the mission of the James Webb space telescope. Its “eye” —a gold-beryllium mirror over twenty feet — promises to revolutionize our view of the cosmos with stunning images, in the same way that the Hubble telescope did in 1993. Webb’s mission is to understand the formation of galaxies and will allow to detect new planetary systems.

This launch represents, at the same time, a great challenge and a great risk. The project has cost more than $ 10,000,000,000 and it is NASA’s largest investment after the trip to the Moon. The construction of the probe has been very problematic and its launch has been delayed more than 14 years compared to the original date, expected in 2007. The launch, with an ESA Ariane 5 rocket, is scheduled for December 24. The weak point of the JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) is its orbit. To obtain optimal results, it will be sent 1,500,000 km away from Earth (The Moon is less than 400 km away). This means that, in the event of a breakdown, it will be impossible to repair because no manned space vehicle is capable of reaching this distance.

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