NASA Completes World's Most Expensive Telescope After 2 Decades

The Hubble Space Telescope has done a great job so far by giving humanity extraordinary glimpses of the universe, but scientists at NASA have now come up with the largest and most expensive telescope the world has ever seen.

The James Webb Space Telescope, abbreviated JWST, will now hold the reins and act as a major tool for unraveling the cover from the mysteries of the universe. Coming at a whopping cost of $8.8 billion, JWST was unveiled by NASA administrator Charles Bolden and allows one to see the universe as it exactly appeared 13 billion years back. It has a gold-coated mirror array measuring 21 feet in length and can collect seven times more light compared with the Hubble. Project scientist John Mather expressed his delight by saying that the team had worked hard for two decades and the results have been fruitful enough.

Besides looking into the oldest and deepest regions of the universe, JWST has adequate power to keep an eye on livable exoplanets. Mather plans to use the new find to see if another planet has sufficient water to have an ocean and is pretty confident of achieving that feat. It's so powerful that it can identify a bumblebee on the moon. The telescope has to be cooled to roughly -220 degrees Celcius in order to recognize infrared light. This is why it has been insulated by five membrane layers, with the thickness of each layer being comparable to a human hair strand. The membranes will protect it from the scorching heat of the sun.

Some have labeled the new invention as "Super Hubble" since it's three times bigger and 100 times more powerful than its predecessor. Furthermore, the JWST occupies an area of 270 square feet while the Hubble has an area of just 48 square feet. The JWST is slated to launch on top of Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018, according to NASA prospects. It will require six months of rigorous testing after which it will get down to work.