NASA finished assembling $ 9.7 billion telescope

The team of engineers completed assembling parts of James Webb, the world's most powerful space telescope, in California on August 28.

"The assembly of glass, scientific instruments, sunlight shields and spacecraft hulls to form a space telescope is an amazing achievement for the James Webb manufacturing team. This landmark represents the effort of thousands of dedicated people over 20 years at NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Northrop Grumman and other partners " , Bill Ochs, manager James Webb project at Goddard Space Flight Center at NASA, said.

The James Webb space telescope is fully assembled in California.(Image: NASA / Chris Gunn).

The group of engineers used the crane to gently lower the parts into the hull. James Webb's complex and foldable light shield, which sheds light on equipment during operation, is also assembled with the hull. Finally, the engineers pair the two halves of James Webb. They will continue to conduct electrical connection for the two halves of the telescope.

The complete assembly of the telescope takes place at a Northrop Grumman facility in Redondo Beach, California, USA. James Webb is considered the world's most powerful telescope and "successor" to the Hubble telescope. James Webb is scheduled to launch in March 2021.

The process of manufacturing and assembling James Webb faced many difficulties. Since 2009, the total cost has nearly doubled, the launch date has also been delayed by nearly 7 years. However, this telescope will bring great benefits in the future.

James Webb will operate about 1.5 million km from Earth. This telescope observes the universe with infrared light, helping to find answers to some big questions. The researchers will use it to look for signs of life in the atmosphere of nearby exoplanets, study the process of the first galaxies or stars forming and performing many other tasks.

"It is interesting because this is the first time all of the parts have been assembled into the James Webb space telescope. The engineering team has made a huge step forward. We will soon see new images of the marvelous universe." " , Says Gregory Robinson, director of the James Webb program at NASA.

1. The telescope looks backwards to 13.5 billion years
2. NASA postpones the world's most powerful space telescope