thing are wait right for the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) . The project was first thought of back in 1996 as the Next Generation Space Telescope and this ambitious undertaking had a very long and hard route to go . But it seems now that we are truly getting close to a launching .
NASA has announce that the scope has completed the final working performance tests . Internal electronics are all functioning and the lookout station and its four cat’s-paw are all direct and experience data point as they should . Similar exam were conducted following environmental testing where JWST was put under similar tenseness weather it will receive during launch .
The testing ran for 17 days pass water certain that everything was running swimmingly . Each electric box on the telescope has two sides , a essential redundance to prepare for the unexpected . The observatory will be far beyond the scope of the Moon , so once it is up there , it will be on its own . So everything has got be working right from the get - go .
“ It ’s been astonishing to witness the level of expertise , commitment , and collaboration across the squad during this crucial milepost , ” Jennifer Love - Pruitt , Northrop Grumman ’s electric fomite applied science Pb on the Webb lookout station , said in astatement . “ It ’s decidedly a gallant minute because we establish Webb ’s electrical readiness . The successful pass completion of this mental testing also means we are ready to move forward toward launch and on - arena operations . ”
If everything goes fit in to plan JWST will launch on October 31 , 2021 .
In 2002 , the telescope received its current name honour the NASA administrator from 1961 to 1969 during the Apollo program . The alternative turned out to be controversial in 2015 when it came to light that Webb had a hand in the land - patronize purge ofgay and bisexual scientist and polite servantsfrom federal jobs , help homophobic policy discussionsamong US senators .
Webbdeliberately excluded womenfrom the astronaut program during his land tenure as NASA administrator and widely shared his misogynistic views on women in the US forces . The US Naval Academy ’s first distaff officers graduated in 1980 . Webb was a prof there and he chose to publish the essay " Women Ca n’t Fight " to make his feelings about the matter clear .
The calls for renaming JWST have been legion over the last several days from astronomers and science communicators alike includingDr Chanda Prescod - Weinstein , Dr Sarah Tuttle , Dr Lucianne Walkowicz , Dr Brian Nord , Phil Plait , andMatthew Francis .
