An artist’s impression of what the fully-deployed James Webb Space telescope will look like from the perspective of an observer on the ‘dark’ (non-Sun-facing) side of the observatory. (NORTHRUP GRUMMAN)

5 Scientific Revolutions That NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Will Deliver

What’s just over the current frontier will soon be revealed.

Cumulatively, astronomical data helps scientists reconstruct what happened in our Universe’s past.

Looking back a variety of distances corresponds to a variety of times since the Big Bang. While our modern suite of observatories has taken us very far back in the distant Universe, numerous questions remain: both about what happened at very early times and also about details at later times that are obscure to us today. (NASA, ESA, AND A. FEILD (STSCI))

Despite the full suite of modern telescopes, our present data sets cannot answer every question.

The James Webb Space Telescope vs. Hubble in size (main) and vs. an array of other telescopes (inset) in terms of wavelength and sensitivity. Its power is truly unprecedented. (NASA / JWST)

Only observatories with superior capabilities will solve those mysteries.

One of the last tests that will be performed on NASA’s James Webb is a final check of the mirror deployment sequence in full. With all environmental stress testing now out of the way, these last checks will hopefully be routine, paving the way for a successful 2021 launch. (NASA / JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE TEAM)

After years of development, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now complete.

This 2017 launch of an Ariane 5 rocket mirrors the launch vehicle of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The Ariane 5 had a string of more than 80 consecutive launch successes before a partial failure a few years ago. It is one of the most reliable launch vehicles in space history. (© ESA-CNES-ARIANESPACE/OPTIQUE VIDÉO DU CSG)

Only shipping and rocket/launch site readiness remain as pre-launch obstacles.