NASA's Powerful New Telescope Arrives at Orbiting Position
2022-01-27
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1The American space agency NASA says its powerful James Webb Space Telescope has successfully reached its final position in orbit around the sun.
2James Webb fired its rocket thrusters Monday for nearly five minutes to push the spacecraft into position about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, NASA said in a statement.
3The agency describes James Webb as "the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built."
4It is meant to add to the discoveries of past telescopes, while gathering more in-depth data on the early development of the universe.
5The orbiting observatory launched from French Guiana about a month ago.
6Its final position is known as the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2.
7This is a point where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance each other.
8This will permit the telescope to stay in line with Earth as it orbits the sun.
9A large sun shield separates the telescope into hot and cold sides.
10One side will take in light and heat, the other will be shielded and remain cold.
11The side with the telescope's science instruments needs to stay cold because it will be seeking heat signals from very distant objects, NASA explains.
12That side is expected to operate at about 225 degrees below zero Celsius.
13The hot side - which NASA says is designed to operate at about 85 degrees Celsius - holds the telescope's solar power system and communications and other equipment.
14The sun shield successfully opened about a week and a half after James Webb launched.
15A few days later, the observatory's nearly seven-meter mirror was deployed.
16The mirror, a collection of 18 different pieces, still needs to be perfectly aligned before the telescope can operate.
17NASA expects that process to take about three months.
18James Webb is designed to detect infrared waves - a kind of electromagnetic energy that cannot be seen with the human eye.
19The telescope's instruments were built to find infrared waves through gas and dust in an effort to observe distant objects.
20The infrared detection system and the telescope's scientific instruments will need to get cold enough to perform effectively.
21If all goes well, NASA says it expects James Webb to produce its first "early release observations" sometime in June.
22NASA officials leading the project have been pleased with how things have progressed so far.
23"Webb is officially on station," Observatory Manager Keith Parrish told reporters.
24He said the telescope's orbital arrival came after "a remarkable 30 days" in space.
25James Webb is considered NASA's new generation telescope after the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
26Hubble was launched more than 30 years ago and Spitzer was deployed in 2003.
27Both of those telescopes led to numerous discoveries and provided more detailed, colorful space images than ever before.
28But the new telescope aims to help scientists learn about all periods of the universe's history dating back to just after the Big Bang event, about 13.8 billion years ago.
29It is also designed to study exoplanets - planets that orbit stars other than the sun.
30"We're one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
31"And I can't wait to see Webb's first new views of the universe this summer," he added.
32I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The American space agency NASA says its powerful James Webb Space Telescope has successfully reached its final position in orbit around the sun. 2James Webb fired its rocket thrusters Monday for nearly five minutes to push the spacecraft into position about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, NASA said in a statement. 3The agency describes James Webb as "the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built." It is meant to add to the discoveries of past telescopes, while gathering more in-depth data on the early development of the universe. 4The orbiting observatory launched from French Guiana about a month ago. Its final position is known as the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2. This is a point where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance each other. This will permit the telescope to stay in line with Earth as it orbits the sun. 5Sun shield to keep telescope hot and cold 6A large sun shield separates the telescope into hot and cold sides. One side will take in light and heat, the other will be shielded and remain cold. 7The side with the telescope's science instruments needs to stay cold because it will be seeking heat signals from very distant objects, NASA explains. That side is expected to operate at about 225 degrees below zero Celsius. 8The hot side - which NASA says is designed to operate at about 85 degrees Celsius - holds the telescope's solar power system and communications and other equipment. 9The sun shield successfully opened about a week and a half after James Webb launched. A few days later, the observatory's nearly seven-meter mirror was deployed. The mirror, a collection of 18 different pieces, still needs to be perfectly aligned before the telescope can operate. NASA expects that process to take about three months. 10New generation telescope 11James Webb is designed to detect infrared waves - a kind of electromagnetic energy that cannot be seen with the human eye. The telescope's instruments were built to find infrared waves through gas and dust in an effort to observe distant objects. 12The infrared detection system and the telescope's scientific instruments will need to get cold enough to perform effectively. If all goes well, NASA says it expects James Webb to produce its first "early release observations" sometime in June. 13NASA officials leading the project have been pleased with how things have progressed so far. "Webb is officially on station," Observatory Manager Keith Parrish told reporters. He said the telescope's orbital arrival came after "a remarkable 30 days" in space. 14James Webb is considered NASA's new generation telescope after the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Hubble was launched more than 30 years ago and Spitzer was deployed in 2003. Both of those telescopes led to numerous discoveries and provided more detailed, colorful space images than ever before. 15But the new telescope aims to help scientists learn about all periods of the universe's history dating back to just after the Big Bang event, about 13.8 billion years ago. It is also designed to study exoplanets - planets that orbit stars other than the sun. 16"We're one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. "And I can't wait to see Webb's first new views of the universe this summer," he added. 17I'm Bryan Lynn. 18Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press and Reuters. 19We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 20____________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22thruster - n. an engine that produces propulsion by releasing a jet of fluid or a stream of particles 23shield - n. a piece of equipment that serves as a protective cover or barrier 24align - v. to put things in an exact line or make them parallel 25detect - v. to discover or notice something 26remarkable - adj. very unusual or noticeable in a way that is admired 27view - n. things that can be seen from a place