“So, possibly one of the biggest events to happen during our lifetime is about to happen on Dec. 22 of this year, yet I’m surprised to see that no one in the press seems to be talking about it.
The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch on that very day. What is that? It’s the successor to the Hubble, only 3 times as large and 100 times more powerful. NASA has been working on it for 25 years and it’s a miracle they were able to complete it. It was almost canceled in 2011.
The technology on this telescope will launch nothing short of an astronomical revolution and two major historical events:
– We will be able to see if there is life on the exoplanets we’ve discovered and detect whether the atmospheres of those planets are being modified by that life.
– We will be able to see the first stars and galaxies ever created from the Big Bang.
That’s right, this telescope will literally look back in time to view the very first galaxies and allow us to witness the birth of our known Universe.
That’s some crazy stuff, man.
Crazy, crazy stuff.”
— Neil DeGrasse Tyson