NASA to Release First Images From James Webb Telescope
NASA James Webb Space Telescope Project Manager Bill Ochs monitors the progress of the observatory's second primary mirror wing as it rotates into position from NASAs James Webb Space Telescope Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute on January 8, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images
By
Frank Konkel
The space agency will get an assist from President Joe Biden, too.
NASA is prepared to unveil the first full-color images from its James Web Space Telescope.
The space agency, along with partners—the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency—will release several images from the multi-billion dollar telescope on Tuesday. Monday afternoon, however, President Joe Biden will release one of the telescope’s first images at a White House event alongside NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
The public can tune into Monday’s event, as well as Tuesday’s full unveiling and accompanying NASA events, through NASA’s YouTube channel.
The telescope, which launched on Dec. 25, signals a new era of space observation for NASA. Decades in the making, the telescope suffered numerous delays and comes with a hefty price tag of approximately $10 billion. It features a gold-plated mirror that is 21 feet across, complete with an enormous sun shield, and orbits the sun approximately 1 million miles from the Earth. Scientists hope to use the telescope to see back in time to the creation of the earliest stars and galaxies, and it is powerful enough that it may even be able to detect signs of life on exoplanets.
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