year on christmas day, and over the last six months it s been getting ready for its mission. the james webb space telescope is an engineering marvel. at its core is a six and a half metre wide mirror made up of 18 hexagonal segments, each perfectly aligned to act as a single surface. it also has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from the heat and light of the sun. the telescope will look back further in time than ever before, showing us the light from the very first stars to shine. we ll also be able to see how they came together to form the earliest galaxies. and it will study other planetary systems, revealing whether life could exist beyond our world. it s almost like a time machine. you re looking back into the far distant past and so we can begin to answer those questions about how did the first galaxies and stars form. the hope with this telescope is that we see almost in real time, as it were, a history
the james webb space telescope is an engineering marvel. at its core is a six and a half metre wide mirror made up of 18 hexagonal segments, each perfectly aligned to act as a single surface. it also has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from the heat and light of the sun. the telescope will look back further in time than ever before, showing us the light from the very first stars to shine. we ll also be able to see how they came together to form the earliest galaxies. and it will study other planetary systems, revealing whether life could exist beyond our world. it s almost like a time machine. you re looking back into the far distant past and so we can begin to answer those questions about how did the first galaxies and stars form. the hope with this telescope is that we see almost in real time, as it were, a history of the universe playing out. the telescope also captured this. 2,000 light years away, it is a star going through its death throes.
shows five galaxies, 290 million light years away. baby pictures of the universe, majestic and humbling, from a time machine now staggering n.a.s.a. scientists. they re fantastic, absolutely beautiful, and they re a real hint at the power that the observatory will have. liftoff, launch last christmas, the web space ted cruz is an engineering marvel, folding 1 million miles from earth. 18 gold plated segments form a giant mirror. it s protected against tole size of a tennis court producing ageless clarity. compare the hubble ted cruz s thousands of galaxies with the web s infrared technology. so much detail pops into view and will for the next 20 years. it s almost a spiritual experience because you realiz that there was a beginning, and
the telescope blasted off last year, on christmas day. the start of a new era of exploration. james webb is a collaboration between the american, european and canadian space agencies, and over the last six months it has been getting ready for its mission. the james webb space telescope is an engineering marvel. at its core is a 6.5 metre wide mirror, made up of 18 hexagonal segments. each perfectly aligned to act as a single surface. it also has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from the heat and light of the sun. the telescope will look back further in time than ever before, showing us the light from the very first stars to shine. we will also be able to see how they came together to form the earliest galaxies, and it will study other planetary systems, revealing whether life could exist beyond our world. so having seen these very first images, we already are getting a hit of what this telescope
long and finally see it come to fruition and do what it is supposed to do is absolutely incredible. the images are amazing, themselves, just as images, but the detailed science we will be able to do and what we can learn from these images is what makes me so excited. the telescope blasted off last year, on christmas day. and over the last six months it s been getting ready for its mission. the james webb space telescope is an engineering marvel. at its core is a six and a half metre wide mirror made up of 18 hexagonal segments, each perfectly aligned to act as a single surface. it also has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to protect it from the heat and light of the sun. the telescope will look back further in time than ever before, showing us the light from the very first stars to shine. we will also be able to see how they came together to form the earliest galaxies, and it will study other planetary systems, revealing whether life