Earlier this week I started you off on our “PTiS” segment by relaying the news of the Atlantis’ journey and return to Earth. While the Atlantis is part of a stalwart bunch of NASA technologies, today I bring you word of the next generation of space-borne tech that will take us into the 21st Century and beyond. Known at the Northrop Grumman Space labs as the “NGST” or “Next Generation Space Telescope”, NASA has dubbed this next piece of tech the “James Webb Space Telescope” after the second NASA Administrator. This telescope is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and is a joint venture between NASA, the CSA (Canadian Space Agency, and the ESA (European Space Agency); yet, it differs from the Hubble in that it is not geared toward the visible spectrum of light, but rather the infrared spectrum. This capability is vital to the JWST’s special mission…

It’s mission is comprised of four parts:

• -> Study light emitted from the formation of the first stars and galaxies
• -> Study the formation and evolution of galaxies
• -> Understand the formation of planets and planetary systems, and
• -> Study planetary systems and the origin of life.

——
Seems like a tall order to me. Nonetheless, the JWST is well equipped for its job. Since some of the specimen being studied are of extremely low temperature, obscured by dust clouds, and affected by redshift, a telescope that studies in the infrared spectrum was the most obvious choice. To keep the JWST from being interfered with by the Sun’s emission of infrared waves, a massive sun shield will be created to mount on the bottom of the telescope assembly. The telescope also, while having half the mass of the Hubble, boasts six times the collection area, making this quite the telescope, indeed.

The James Webb telescope is slated to launch no earlier than 2013, but the development has been exciting so far. Just back in May of 2007, 10 new technological prototypes being built for the new telescope were approved by NASA and entered the production phase. One example would be ‘microshutters‘; little doorways on the telescope that are computer controlled. These doorways can be programmed to move in the way of light that the scientists don’t want to observe or have in focus, much like squinting to see better.

Since the Hubble has produced some truly incredible pictures [Careful of that last one, it's 6000x6000 pixels], I am personally excited to see what will become of the James Webb Space Telescope when it is launched in June of 2013. Until then, I’ll be starting a campaign to push for NASA allowing civilians steer the telescope over the Internet…

Next on PaulTech in Space (coming Thursday after a brief break): This isn’t really space-related, but word of the development of better alloys and improved steel has me wondering about their capabilities as a space-based armor system…and thus, earns a spot on PTiS!

Pictures courtesy of: NASA;

Related Posts:

• No Related Posts