Software Helps NASA Simulate Performance of James Webb Telescope

摘要

Scheduled for launch in 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Observatory will operate 1.5 million kilometers above the Earth. Its mission is ambitious: examining every phase of cosmic history. The telescope will look back light years into the past. Considered the next generation - not the replacement -of the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST is an infrared telescope that enables the viewing of more distant, highly red-shifted objects. The Hubble is used to study the universe in optical and ultraviolet wavelengths. The JWST will also be larger than Hubble, which is about the size of a large tractor-trailer truck. At 22 by 12 meters, the JWST will be almost as large as a Boeing 737. Fully deployed, the JWST will feature a reflecting mirror with seven times more collecting area than the Hubble.