Scientists and Engineers Prepare for New Views of the Cosmos

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will release its first, full-color images and spectroscopic data on 12 July 2022.

The orbital telescope, designed primarily to conduct infrared astronomy, is the most powerful ever launched into space, and promises to dramatically broaden humankind’s understanding of the cosmos.

The last six-months have seen the telescope’s mirrors aligned and its instruments calibrated to the space environment. This careful process—in conjunction with numerous, emergent technologies and extensive mission planning—has led up to the July debut, which promises to showcase the extent of the telescope’s capabilities. 

Webb program scientist Eric Smith states, “As we near the end of preparing the observatory for science, we are on the precipice of an incredibly exciting period of discovery about our universe. The release of Webb’s first full-color images will offer a unique moment for us all to stop and marvel at a view humanity has never seen before.”

Deciding what Webb should look at first has been a project more than five years in the making and an illustration of the perils of compromise. The half-decade decision derived of cooperation between NASA, ESA, CSA, and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, home to Webb’s science and mission operations.

Webb project scientist Klaus Pontoppidan said of the decision, “Our goals for Webb’s first images and data are both to showcase the telescope’s powerful instruments and to preview the science mission to come.” Pontoppidan adds, “They are sure to deliver a long-awaited ‘wow’ for astronomers and the public.”

Once Webb’s instruments have been calibrated, tested, and given the green light by its science and engineering teams, the first images and spectroscopic observations will be made. The team will proceed through a list of targets that have been preselected and prioritized by an international committee. Thereafter, a production team will receive the data from Webb’s scientists and process it into images for astronomers and the public.

The first image package will highlight the scientific aspirations that inspired the mission and define the focus of its work, e.g.: the early universe, the evolution of galaxies through time, and the lifecycle of stars, and other worlds.

Clarity of purpose notwithstanding, the new telescope’s tremendous power precludes certainty of what—exactly—the first images will reveal. STScI’s lead science visuals developer Joseph DePasquale states, “Of course, there are things we are expecting and hoping to see, but with a new telescope and this new high-resolution infrared data, we just won’t know until we see it.”

FMI: www.nasa.gov