James Webb: The Most Sophisticated Space Telescope Will 'Travel Through Time' To See How It All Began

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Wherever he goes the space telescope

is Begoña Vila. For the last 15 years, this Galician astrophysicist who works as a systems engineer for NASA has been on the lookout for the most powerful and sophisticated scientific observatory built by humanity. In 2006, from the company subcontracted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as in charge of two of its instruments. In 2012 they delivered these components to NASA and she stayed there, accompanying the telescope in the tests carried out in different centers of the US agency to prepare it for an extraordinary mission: to observe how it all began.

For this reason, this NASA scientist does not seem at all exaggerated to compare it with a time machine: "We are going to see how the first objects in the universe were formed after the Big Bang.

. The universe is expanding, it is stretching, and to observe objects so far away, that have been traveling so long, we need to work in the infrared spectrum because with visible light we cannot reach see them ", explains Vila, who claims to feel" super excited "at the imminent launch of an observatory that had to be built between three agencies -Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the CSA- and which was conceived back in 1996 .

Twenty-five years and 9.6 billion dollars later (8.5 billion euros), this fabulous and expensive telescope is finally placed on the launch pad of the Kurú spaceport, in French Guiana, for its long-awaited takeoff, now scheduled for the day Christmas at noon in Spain. "Although we have rehearsed everything many times, we are a bit nervous. We also have a mixture of sensations because not all the team has been able to come for the launch and there are colleagues who from now on are going to work on other projects," says Vila in an interview phone from Kurú.

"It has been a very long journey and it seems incredible that we are finally going to launch it," he adds. Nor is he exaggerating in that regard.

twice in recent days - due to numerous setbacks and technical problems, but also due to prudence. And it is that when it is in orbit, there will be no possibility of sending astronauts to fix any possible failure, as it was done with its predecessor, the now legendary

space

also from NASA and ESA, which was launched in 1990 and continues. operational.

For the history of humanity, there remain both the images that

has taken of the cosmos and those of the intrepid and dangerous spacewalks carried out by astronauts some 600 kilometers from Earth, first to correct an unexpected problem in the curvature of the mirror that distorted images, and over the years, to replace their equipment and thus extend its useful life.

Pure "neurosurgery in orbit", in the words of John Grunsfeld, one of the NASA astronauts who

Hubble.

But the

work much farther, at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers, at what is known as the Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable site well suited for its mission but extremely unfavorable if a mishap occurs. "We know that the mirrors of the

are perfectly fine, but there are other elements that could fail and we only have one chance because we will not be able to send astronauts, although there are small corrections that we can make remotely", explains in a telephone interview Günther Hasinger, Director of Science of the ESA.

Hasinger, who will also attend the launch in Kurú, says he is "extremely excited" to have a scientific instrument like the James Webb available.

"It is the most advanced telescope you can imagine. It is 100 times more sensitive than Hubble and it will allow us to see the first lights of the universe, the light of the first galaxies that formed," he sums up.

"The first stars were much more massive than our Sun and were formed from the elements that formed us," says Vila.

"After the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, it was so hot that the particles couldn't form matter. It took between 100 and 200 million years for the Universe to cool down enough for matter to coagulate and form. the first protostars ".

It has innovations in engineering and materials that will open a new field in how to send future large instruments into space

Begoña Vila, NASA systems engineer

In addition to studying the origins of the universe,

With his instruments, says this person in charge of ESA, "we will be able to observe the composition of their atmospheres, if there is water, oxygen, ozone ... We look for biomarkers of life and determine if they are rocky worlds like Mars or have an atmosphere like that of Venus ".

"At the moment we have not found a planet that is like Earth, but we have located potentially habitable worlds

orbiting red stars that emit a lot of radiation," says Hasinger.

Among the planets already known to be observed, the Trappist-1 system stands out, with its seven

: "Five of the seven planets it has are in the habitable zone of its star," says Vila, who points out that the James Webb Not only will you investigate interesting worlds already located, but you will also search for new planets. "We want to know how common planets like Earth are," he says.

The

will not be a lone investigator. The data obtained will be combined with those from other space and ground observatories, such as the Event Horizon Telescope or the Event Horizon Telescope [which served to obtain the first image of a black hole] with the aim of investigating the supermassive black hole that there is in the heart of the Milky Way.

Several controversies have overshadowed the development of the telescope. In the first place, the excessive increase in its cost, which almost caused the cancellation of the project on several occasions due to the refusal of members of the Congress of the United States and Canada to continue turning on the tap for a telescope budgeted at 500 million dollars. and whose bill has risen by 8,000 million. On this aspect, Hasinger considers that

. It was about building a complete telescope, with a much larger and lighter mirror area. It was a huge technological challenge. because it is the most complex observatory that is going to be launched into space ", he assures.

"The initial budget was optimistic, and its complexity was not well considered from the beginning", Begoña Vila agrees. "Many of the technologies needed to do this were non-existent, and the

has innovations in engineering and materials that are going to open up a whole new field in how to send future large instruments into space."

The heart of the telescope is the 6.5 meter diameter primary mirror, which will have a surface area of ​​25 square meters: "To make a mirror so large that it allows more light to be captured but fits in the rocket we have made 18 smaller mirrors that we have to fold for launch and then align in space.

"he details.

On the other hand, "to observe those first objects that were formed after the Big Bang and that emit light in the infrared you have to cool the mirrors, and for that we need a parasol or heat shield, which is as big as a tennis court. We cannot send it open, we have to fold it and put it in the rocket ", says the engineer.

Despite this, Vila points out that 9,000 million dollars among the US population represents an expense of two dollars per inhabitant for an instrument that will help answer fundamental questions for humanity.

The initial budget was very low;

it was a huge technological challenge because it is the most complex observatory to launch into space

Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science

The useful life of the telescope, designed for at least 10 years, will depend on how much fuel it consumes during maneuvers after launch.

If everything goes according to plan, Vila says, he could work for 15 or 17 years.

The last controversy came in March regarding the name chosen to honor James Webb, who was the second director of NASA (between 1961 and 1968) and died in 1992. A group of scientists claimed NASA in a published letter in

to choose another name for the observatory, arguing that Webb had pursued homophobic policies and had discriminated against gay workers.

The space agency opened an investigation after which it was decided to keep the name, prompting the resignation of astrophysicist Lucianne Walkowicz in protest.

"We have found no evidence at this time to justify renaming the James Webb Space Telescope," NASA Director Bill Nelson said in announcing the decision.

On this matter, Vila prefers not to comment and Hasinger recalls that, beyond this controversy, James Webb was one of the leaders of the Apollo program to reach the Moon, and in that sense, he considers it justified that an observatory of these characteristics should carry his Name.

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