"...because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills; because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone." -John F. Kennedy
The Hubble Space Telescope, for all of its scientific findings and how it revolutionized our understanding of the Universe itself, touched us all in a way that no piece of knowledge could ever encapsulate. In perhaps the greatest find of all, Hubble answered a question that many of us have had on our minds every time we've gazed up at a night sky: what does the Universe actually look like?
The full UV-visible-IR composite of the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field; the greatest image ever released of the distant Universe. Image credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI).
From its images of star-forming regions, stellar deaths, galaxies, gravitational lenses and the deep abyss of empty space, it's awed us in a way no other observatory ever has. But James Webb is poised to do us one better, and show us something Hubble never could. It will show us how the Universe went from a state with no stars, no planets, and no galaxies to the Universe we know, recognize and inhabit today.
An illustration of CR7, the first galaxy detected that's thought to house Population III stars: the first stars ever formed in the Universe. JWST will reveal actual images of this galaxy and others like it. Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.
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“All I want is blackness. Blackness and silence.” -Sylvia Plath
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I haven't heard anything about Trump's potential pick for a NASA administrator since November. On the one hand, the JWST isn't earth science, so it isn't likely to be in republican gun sights for immediate killing. On the other, I can't imagine any NASA program is going to be safe this year, or that NASA's overall budget will increase. :( Hopefully sane heads will prevail and be able to convince congress that underfunding the project *now* will just likely lead to greater cost and schedule overruns later, so it (underfunding) is a bad deal.
Trump wants to cut NASA funding so it will stop sending satellites up that tell us what the earth's temperature is, because it's always lying and saying it's getting warmer and warmer.
Sad!
Aaaarrrgghhh! What a time to be reading this topic. I have spent the last decade waiting with excitement for this launch, witnessing the "first light" image, and then seeing all the wondrous images that follow..
Sadly, I am currently sitting in the James Brown Cancer Center in Louisville getting my third treatment of chemotherapy. and I just realized I will never see the results of this endeavor. It never occurred to me that this might happen.
sniffle, sniffle...
All-in-all it's been a great universe.
( Ron Seadler aka MandoZink )
Well, Mando, at least you will still be a part of the universe, in another form.Perhaps your experience will bring you more than you ever hoped for. Stay positive.
"Trump wants to cut NASA funding" Wrong Retarded Liar, Only Scrap funding for Bullshit Climate Fear Mongering..
"Bullshit climate fear mongering"????
That's what YOU denier alarmists do.
"Oh, we'll be back in caves if we do anything about AGW!!! It will DESTROY the west!!! IT'S A NWO PLOT TO RULE THE WORLD!!!!!!"
Don't be frigging daft.
Sorry, forgot who I was talking to: you don't have any choice, do you.
When that "scrap funding" is part of NASA's budget (and mission), cutting it counts as cutting NASA's budget. Yes? The fact that a NASA budget line counts as part of NASA's budget isn't rocket science.
re: Trumpf
The only thing NASA has to do is just re-phrase their proposals and they'll be fine.
"We want to explore other worlds and look for wealth and resources, so that we'll be all rich. It's gonna be fabulous! You're a fantastic president! We just heard the other day there are amazing deposits of precious metals on Jupiter.. so we gotta go there, it's gonna be great! We are gonna make thousands of new jobs. Love NASA"
.. problem solved
p.s.
oh yeah.. one important thing... forget proposals. Not gonna work. For next 4 years, they should really tweet their intent if they want to achieve something.
Aye, SL, it's not like Drumpf actually listens to what people say, only whether they use the right "respectful tone" with him. And he's DEFINITELY not going to do any actual work like check on what;s going on.
Too busy tweeting about how lame and sad people who don't love him are.
@Sinisa Lazarek
"Finally Mr. President, we have decided to scrub the name of some bureaucrat off the project and rename it the Trump Space Telescope. We've included the addition of a gold foil 'T', 'R', 'U',. 'M', and 'P' in the solar shielding. Of course we've made an allowance in the budget to pay the Trump Corporation for name usage rights even though we know you (wink-wink) have severed all ties with those business interests.
No need to pay him off with cash (he'll do that by arranging all presidential meetings in Trump Tower, charging everyone there via the taxpayer dime for the catering and rental of room), all you eed do is stroke his tiny and easily bruised ego.
Just say it'll be a yuge telescope that America Made Great!
The advantage is that when someone criticises the output, trump will tweet against them.
What an appalling piece of writing on such an important topic. Please have someone whose first language is English write these.
The first sentence made me cringe with embarrassment. The second made me laugh out loud.
In that first picture Ethan puts up, of the deep field, you can clearly see the outline of Darth Vador's helmet. I don't have a problem with that but why is he looking at us?
Do not question Dark Helmet.
Amazing how Wow finds a way to cry like a little bitch in literally every single post on this website. #someonereallyneedstogetlaid
Still whining, bri?
"finds a way to cry like a little bitch"?
Projection much? Or just too ugly to look in a mirror, are you?
This isn't Twitter. Turning a complete sentence into a hashtag just looks stupid.
Bri wants to be trending.
He's not too bright. Don't tell him that it's "trendy".
Also weird that the idiot is trying to denigrate me with a "you haven't had sex! nyah narny na na!" when there's no way the little oik who only comes on to complain that all I do is whine and add nothing positive to the site (IRONY ALERT!) would know how much I get.
Not to mention that he's now degraded both sexes into merely objects that must take sex and must be used for sex.
Old people don't have sex much. Their sex drives are lower because that's a consequence of the aging process.
Brian here thinks that they are therefore less than human, prone to irrational hatred and unfettered emotional outbursts that are so bad that he must shout out against them when they occur.
Kinda rude, don't you think?
The kid must masturbate a whole lot, though, if they think so highly of the necessity of sex.
I write a sentence calling the virgin out, and he posts a full essay response. #missionaccomplished
I can sum up the essay very easily:
"Wahhh, I'm a loser named 'Wow" who constantly argues on a physics website. I'll never reveal who I really am, by posting my facebook link, because I'm scared to death to do that. I need to hide behind my computer."
Hi again, whiney bitch!
Still no life,eh?