Space
Technology
Artist’s impression of the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), folded in the Ariane 5 rocket during launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana
James Webb Space Telescope — A Human Engineering Marvel James Webb Space Telescope was designed with a life of 15 years, it is the only space telescope designed to be maintained in space by astronauts
Photograph: ESA / D. Ducros
By Air Vice Marshal Sanjay Bhatnagar (Retd) On December 25, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) lifted atop the Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It is touted to be undoubtedly the most important astronomy payload to be sent to space ever. On 24 April 1990, NASA’s satellite- Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit (547 kms above the Earth) aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was designed as a general
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purpose versatile observatory, a vital research tool and a tool for astronomers/astrophysicists. Hubble hosts a 2.4 m mirror. Its five main instruments enables it to observe in the UV, visible, and near-IR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble’s orbit lies outside the earth’s atmosphere, hence, enables it to capture extremely high-resolution images with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes.
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