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Seth Loverich

Mr. Murphy

RWFTCB

March 11, 2024

The James Webb Space Telescope

The world of Aerospace is always changing and advancing. Everyday new technologies

are needed to solve problems and these technologies are ever increasing in complexity. Many

advancements have been made in the aerospace field, but nothing comes close to the launch of

the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The telescope is a combination of some of the

greatest minds and engineers around the world. It was created in a group effort between many

different countries and will be the primary source of information on the cosmos. The information

the JWST can learn for the astronomers around the world is endless. With the combination of

some of the most advanced technology and the minds of the greatest astronomers, the JWST can

teach the world more about our universe. From its giant hexagonal mirror display to the

programs that translate the data, the telescope is full of complex advancements.

I. The Mission

Since the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope Nasa has been on a mission to create a

stronger telescope that can see farther and clearer than Hubble. The initial plan of the JWST first

came up in 1989 after the launch of Hubble. They wanted to create a telescope that could “view

the heavens in infrared light” (NASA, “Webb Home”). The plan they wanted to create had to be

flawless and possible within the realm of physics. One of the hardest parts of this mission was to

prove it’s possible to the three teams told to oversee the telescope and decide if it could function.

After getting it cleared in 2002, NASA created the groups responsible for developing new tech
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and guiding the construction. Everything on the telescope had to be perfect; once launched into

space the telescope would be too far away to have any astronauts work on it. After 2 years of

planning, actual construction of the telescope started.

“Construction on Webb began in 2004. In 2005, the European Space Agency’s Centre

Spatial Guyanais (CSG) spaceport in French Guiana was chosen as the launch site, and an Ariane

5 rocket as the launch vehicle. By 2011, all 18 mirror segments were finished and proven

through testing to meet required specifications'' (NASA, “Webb Home”). The mirrors were one

of the most important pieces of technology on board. If one mirror was off angle or off by even a

nanometer the telescope would not be able to detect light and pinpoint locations. Having chosen

the launch site and vehicle all that was left was bringing all the parts together and testing. During

the whole process different groups worked on the different key parts of the telescope.

“Between 2012 and 2013, Webb’s individual pieces, constructed in a variety of locations,

began to arrive at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In 2013,

construction of the sunshield layers began” (NASA, “Webb Home”). Once all of the parts were

assembled they had to begin the testing phase. The tests they put it through were harsh;

oftentimes, they would run it on a vibrating machine to replicate the vibrations made when

launching into space. They would often test the parts through extreme temperatures to replicate

the heat generated by the atmosphere as well. This helped them pinpoint any problems that could

come up during the launch, but this also threatened the stability of the assembled telescope parts.

Once the testing was done they began putting the giant hexagonal mirrors in place. In 2016 all of

the mirror segments were installed on the backplane of the telescope. In 2017 the mirrors and

science equipment were tested with the entire telescope. Having been shipped to NASA’s

Johnson’s space center in Houston, Texas, the telescope was again put through various testing
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procedures. Possibly the most important tests were done in 2018 and 2019. During those years it

was rigorously tested on everything from its heat handling to the functionality of the unfolding

system. After being tested JWST was ready for launch. At 7:20 on the morning of Christmas

2021 the James Webb Space Telescope launched from the European Space Agency’s Centre

Spatial Guyanais.

Although the mission seemed to go smoothly, some of the biggest problems came from

budgeting, scheduling, and teamwork. The most recognizable problem came from the budgeting,

“... it was grossly over budget—with a sticker price that had risen from an initial estimate in

1995 of just $500 million to $8.8 billion” (Kluger). Having an initial budget estimate of $500

million, it is understandable how the price jump brought suspicion towards NASA. It would take

a lot to convince the usefulness of this project, but they were able to secure the funding from

multiple sources. Being such a big project, the James Webb Space Telescope got help from

across the world. The European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency both gave

money to support the project, about 1 billion in total. The other major issue during the project

was the scheduling of the telescope's mission timeline. “... it was years behind schedule. Its

launch was originally set for 2007, and here it was the spring of 2018 and still nobody could say

exactly when it would leave the ground” (Kluger). This was another issue that brought suspicion

to the project. The government was expecting a date for launch and launching the telescope 15

years past schedule was not the best look. Although the government wasn’t happy about the past

due launch date, NASA was still able to continue funding the project with the help of the

government. Even though they were able to keep their funding secured, they still had issues that

had developed within the workforce. “‘The majority of problems we encountered with Webb

during its [previous] six years were people and team problems,’ Zurbuchen said in an email to
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TIME. ‘Technically, most issues had been resolved, but the team had struggled to come together

and execute seamlessly’” (Kluger). This issue was important because without proper teamwork

they would continue to miss deadlines and potentially sabotage the entire project. To solve this

issue NASA decided to change who was in charge of the project. They introduced Gregory

Robinson to the project as the leader. This was a sporadic decision and even though Robinson

was already overseeing 114 other projects he chose to drop them and pick up the JWST.

“Zurbuchen was impressed not just by Robinson's technical acumen, but also his skills with a

workforce” (Kluger). Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator, was impressed by

Robison’s ability to bring the project groups together. He felt that Robinson was fit for the

project and after determining this he left Robinson to lead. Robinson led the telescopes teams to

a successful launch on December 25, 2021.

II. The Technology On board

On board the James Webb Telescope there are many different technologies that make it

stand out as NASA’s most advanced telescope. There are about 9 pieces of technology on board

that carry a major role towards the success of the telescope and its mission. Possibly the most

important bit of technology on the telescope are the lightweight cryogenic mirrors. “... JWST has

a 25 square-meter primary mirror, more than seven times larger than Hubble’s mirrors. JWST’s

primary mirror is constructed of 18 mirror segments, which are aligned on orbit to form a single

optical surface” (“Technologies”). These 18 mirror segments are crucial to the resolution of the

telescope’s image quality; if any mirrors were off by even a centimeter that could ruin the

formation and make the entire telescope useless. The technology that supports the alignment of

the mirrors is called the WFCS or Wavefront Sensing and Control. [This] is the process used to

align the JWST mirror segments (“Technologies”). Without the alignment technology they
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wouldn’t be able to control where the mirrors looked after launch; if this tech were to be broken

the telescope would not function properly. The WFCS takes the current positioning of the

mirrors and stores it. Then it can adjust the telescope into a proper position; this is possible

because of the algorithms that have been developed through computer simulations. The WFCS

allows the mirrors to move with 132 degrees of freedom.

The next most important piece of technology on the JWST is the infrared detectors. Due

to the effect of a phenomenon called red shift, the JWST needs incredibly strong and sensitive

infrared sensors to view distant galaxies. Red shift causes the wavelengths that are produced

from distant galaxies to become darker redder wavelengths that can only be viewed by infrared

sensors. “JWST has extended the state of the art for infrared detectors by producing arrays that

are both lower noise and larger format than their predecessors. It will use two types of detectors:

four mega-pixel near infrared (IR) mercury cadmium-telluride detectors for wavelengths 0.6-5

microns, and one mega-pixel mid-IR silicon-arsenic detectors for 5-29 microns”

(“Technologies”). These sensors are critical to the success of the JWST, and with many different

kinds of detectors on board the JWST will be able to see a lot more than Hubble. Having

variations in the kind of detectors also allows the telescope to have a much wider range of view.

To get information out of the IR sensors NASA had to develop a way to transfer the information

back. They created a mini-processing unit called ASIC or application specific integrated circuit

to help transfer the information. This processor has a microprocessor with very low energy

dissipation which is perfect for long term missions.

On top of the advanced technology it was also very important that the frame that holds

the mirror be stable and precisely cut to measurements. “The composite structure that holds the

JWST primary mirror must be exquisitely stable to keep the segments in alignment. While
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dimensionally stable structures have been built before, the combination of the 50K operating

temperature and stability to tens of nanometers is unique” (“Technologies”). Requiring the

measurements to be precise to the nanometers takes an enormous amount of time. This structure

was also one of the first times something of this magnitude was made. They needed to create a

precise frame that is also capable of holding the mirrors and surviving brutal temperatures. The

last of the technology lies in the Heat Switches, Micro-shutters, and Cryocooler. The Heat

Switches are important to the success of the JWST because they allow the telescope to

decontaminate the parts if an anomaly occurs. Heat Switches essentially break the thermal path

that the technology uses to get to their radiators. This is important because they let certain parts

of the telescope heat up slowly, this is also important for the cool-down cycle that the telescope

goes through. The Micro-shutters are very important for the mirrors. They are tiny, 200 micron

wide cells that open and close in response to a magnetic field (“Technologies”). These tiny cells

are important because they allow the telescope to block out any part of the sky and focus on what

it needs to. This allows for the telescope to perform a spectroscopy on 100 different targets,

which is important for faster research and more in-depth research. The last of the technology, the

Cryocooler, allows for the mid-IR detectors to function. They needed a way to cool the detectors

while also not compromising the mirror display. This led them to develop the high-efficiency

pulse-tube cryocooler. This Cryocooler is unique in the sense that it allows them to remotely cool

the detectors from 20 meters away.

III. What is there to gain?

With all of the technology on board the JWST can do a lot more than Hubble. For

research purposes JWST is perfect, being able to do more than its counterpart Hubble the JWST

will be used in research for decades. With an initial mission life of 10 years James Webb was
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going to be used to explore the cosmos. As stated in an article written by Max King,“Like

Hubble, JWST is expected to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. It will help us

determine whether planets orbiting other stars could support life, and see galaxies that formed

just after the Big Bang”. The telescope will help astronomers find any potential habitable planets

and will lead the future of space exploration. With its Ir detectors the JWST can detect planets

and galaxies that Hubble couldn’t even see. This information is vital towards NASA and other

space agencies. On top of detecting habitable planets the JWST will make it possible to detect

information relating to certain planets. King writes, “Infrared-capable space telescopes can

determine the atmospheric composition of planets orbiting other stars, look through clouds of

dust and gas to see newborn stars, and even peer back through time to see galaxies that formed

right after the Big Bang!”. With its Ir detectors James Webb can detect even the most ancient

galaxies. This is important because it can teach us how the galaxy worked and first started.

Knowing this information can help scientists make predictions on how our galaxy might function

in the future. It also might tell us why or how galaxies shape in the way they do.

James Webb’s first mission will make the telescope look into a star system 40 light years

away. He writes, “An early target for JWST will be TRAPPIST-1, a star system 40 light-years

away that contains multiple planets in the habitable zone, the not-too-hot, not-too-cold region

around a star where liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface” (King). Scientists will be able to

study these potentially habitable planets in more depth than with Hubble. This lets astronomers

focus their attention on a few potentially habitable planets. Having this telescope at their disposal

will further science at an incredible rate. This also means another earth-like planet could be

found, which would mean a lot in the scientific community. Webb studies these planets from a

place called Lagrange point 2. [Langrage 2] is a spot in space near Earth that lies opposite the
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sun; this orbit allows the telescope to stay in line with Earth as it orbits the sun (Howell and

Dobrijevic). This spot is important because it keeps the telescope in an area that isn’t affected by

the sun’s light and is still close enough to the earth to transfer data. The initial lifespan of this

telescope was about 10 years. Due to the success of its launch the telescope has enough fuel to

do 20 years worth of research. This leaves a monumental amount of extra time for researching

the cosmos.

The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most technologically advanced telescopes

if not the most advanced piece of technology in the 21st century. With all of its instrumentation

and the 20 year development plan, the telescope will be able to provide enormous amounts of

data for NASA and other agencies. This data will help provide important information on

habitable planets and the formations of galaxies. It will also unlock any questions about the first

galaxies in the universe and can capture amazing photos of distant planets and galaxies. The

James Webb Space Telescope uses its cutting-edge space technology to provide an infinite

amount of information to the world.

Work Cited

“EBSCOhost Login.” Search.ebscohost.com,

research.ebsco.com/c/7hk4zf/viewer/html/ptg7pyyfcr.

Howell, Elizabeth, and Daisy Dobrijevic. “NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Hubble’s

Cosmic Successor.” Space.com, Space, 17 July 2018,

www.space.com/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html.

King, Max. “Your Guide to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.” The Planetary Society,

2020, www.planetary.org/space-missions/james-webb-space-telescope.

NASA. “Hubble vs. Webb - NASA Science.” Science.nasa.gov,

science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/observatory/hubble-vs-webb/.

---. Technologies for the James Webb Space Telescope.