Which NASA observatory launched in 2021 as the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built?
Answer
James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched in 2021 as the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built.
Webb launched on December 25, 2021, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. It was developed through a partnership among NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. Its segmented primary mirror measures 6.5 meters across and is protected by a large five-layer sunshield.
The telescope observes mainly infrared wavelengths, allowing it to study the first galaxies, stellar nurseries hidden by dust, and the atmospheres of exoplanets. Webb travels around the Sun near the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
Webb is often described as a successor to Hubble, but it is not a direct replacement. Hubble observes ultraviolet, visible, and some infrared light from low Earth orbit, while Webb’s larger mirror and colder operating environment are optimized for infrared astronomy.