NASA James Webb telescope spent time in Houston before launch
HOUSTON - NASA shared new images Tuesday from their James Webb telescope.
The telescope was launched in December and is located more than a million miles from Earth. Researchers hope it will help them better understand the universe and our solar system.
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"We’re going to have a much greater understanding of how we came into being, and understanding what else is out there," said William Harris from Space Center Houston.
The $10 billion telescope will share pictures three times more clear than images from the Hubble telescope. The current project is more than two decades in the making.
"We’re looking at galaxies," said Harris. "Maybe even the first black holes. All of these will be revealed over time during the 5 to 10-year life of the James Webb space telescope."
Before launch, the telescope spent a significant amount of time in Houston. In 2017, Webb spent 100 days sealed in a massive thermal vacuum in Houston to simulate space conditions. While it was being tested, Hurricane Harvey dumped as much as 50 inches of rain on the city.
"The greater concern was not if it would flood, it was in an area that would be fine," said Harris. "The greater concern was if they’d have to shut down the chilling process."
"All of the trouble they went through to get this aircraft up there over the many years and decades, it’s certainly paying off," said Dr. Lawrence Pinsky, a physics professor at the University of Houston.
The telescope uses instruments designed to detect infrared light, invisible to the human eye. Webb can review light from space more than 13-billion-light-years away.
"When you look out at stars, you’re looking back at time," said Dr. Pinsky. "It truly is going to give us a better venue to look back at the universe of how it evolved in the very beginning."