NASA launches the James Webb space telescope, considered the new 'Apollo'

By Denise Chow -

One of the

chapters

is the moment after the

when the universe was in its infancy and the first stars began to exist.

If astronomers studied this chaotic and exciting period of the early universe, they could begin to unravel how the cosmos evolved over more than 13 billion years.

However, even with the most sophisticated observatories in space and on the ground, scientists until now lacked the means

.

But that changed.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launches

into space this Saturday

, a $ 10 billion monster called the James Webb Space Telescope.

In this photo provided by NASA, the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on board is seen on the launch pad. Bill Ingalls / AP

The

is scheduled to

take off from a European spaceport in French Guiana, and will be able to see space in greater detail and depth than any previous telescope.

NASA has called the mission an "Apollo moment," a giant leap that could

.

[NASA is ready to launch the new James Webb Space Telescope]

"It's a cliche to say it's going to change the course of astronomy, but it might as well do it," said Marcia Rieke, an astronomer at the University of Arizona.

Rieke spent the past 20 years directing the development of one of the Webb telescope's four main instruments, an infrared camera known as a NIRcam. 

It is a cliché to say that it is going to change the course of astronomy, but it might as well do it "

Marcia Rieke.

Astronomer

The Webb, he said,

.

It could also observe exoplanets with instruments sensitive enough to study their atmospheres, looking for possible biosignatures of extraterrestrial life.

For all its potential benefits, the mission is also one of NASA's most daring.

A risky business

After launch, the Webb telescope will have to spend at least a month traveling to a point in orbit around the Sun that is about a million miles away from Earth.

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The observatory's destination is known as the second Lagrange point, or L2, and it was chosen because the telescope can remain in a stable orbit with one side of the telescope permanently facing the Earth and the Sun.

This helps protect the telescope's instruments from heat and light that could interfere with your observations.

But a million miles away

for updates or repairs if something goes wrong.

Astronauts visited the Hubble Space Telescope in low Earth orbit on five service missions between 1993 and 2009. This time it will not be an option, said Greg Robinson, director of the Webb program at NASA.

"There is no help on the way," warned Robinson.

insisted.

Next-generation space telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.

First proposed more than 30 years ago, the observatory is designed to help astronomers put the pieces together on how the modern universe formed.

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But the project has not been without controversy.

Over the course of its development, the telescope exceeded budget by billions of dollars and was completed more than a decade late.

For the thousands of scientists and engineers around the world involved in the project, it has been a long and often bumpy journey.

Now, Webb is finally ready for launch.

It will build on the legacy of the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in operation since 1990. Although Hubble has been responsible for decades of scientific discoveries and some of the most amazing images of the cosmos, including the famous Pillars of Creation, the Telescope has limitations on what you can see and at what distance.

The main mirror of the Webb telescope, which collects and focuses light from objects in the cosmos, will be the largest that flies in space.

At more than 21 feet wide, Webb's mirror is nearly three times the size of Hubble's, allowing him to look at more of the cosmos and in greater detail.

In all,

, Robinson said.

In other words, if Hubble opened a window to the universe, Webb is likely to break down the door.

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"We know you can find things that Hubble has already given some tantalizing clues into, but it doesn't have the right set of capabilities to dig further into," Rieke said.

But the impressive size of Webb's mirror was also one of the biggest challenges in the mission's design.

To fit inside the rocket for launch, the mirror must be folded and then unfolded once in space.

Each of the 18 gold-plated hexagonal segments requires ultra-precise alignment to function as a single mirror.

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The telescope's huge parasol will also unfold once the observatory reaches space.

The diamond-shaped hood is designed to keep the mirror and telescope instruments ultra-cool, allowing them to pick up the weakest heat signals in the universe without interference from Earth or the sun.

A look to the past

Webb's ability to detect distant stars and galaxies is due to the telescope's infrared "eyes," which probe beyond the range of human sight and beyond other telescopes, including Hubble, that see primarily visible light.

Longer wavelengths of infrared light can pass through thick veils of cosmic gas and dust that might otherwise obscure some celestial objects.

The inset indicates the location of a possible exoplanet detected outside the Milky Way in a composite image from the Hubble space telescope and the Chandra.R X-ray observatory.

Di Stefano / NASA / CXC / SAO

Infrared instruments are also better suited for trying to detect the universe's first stars and galaxies.

Telescopes essentially function as time machines because it takes time for light to travel through space.

As such, the light that reaches the Webb telescope from the most distant galaxies does not speak of current conditions, but rather provides information about what the universe was like billions of years ago.

As the universe is expanding, the light from early stars and galaxies is stretched, shifting to infrared wavelengths longer than Hubble or the human eye can detect.

"We will see things that we never knew were there, and we will see things that we know differently and better," said John Mather, lead scientist for the Webb telescope project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mather, who has been involved in the Webb telescope project for the past 26 years, called it a once-in-a-generation mission, adding that

.

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"We will be able to write a much better history of the expanding universe. We will see how it happened that galaxies have black holes in the center and how it is possible that there is a planet that is capable of supporting people," he said.

But perhaps most exciting are the new questions Webb could raise, which scientists have yet to ask themselves.

Mather said he hopes the mission will inspire curiosity in the general public for generations to come.

"Science is about discovery and the unknown," Mather said.

"We are always making our way through the unknown, and I want to invite people to come and join us in that search," he said.