WEBVTT FILE

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This is your telescope.

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An engineering marvel. An exploration powerhouse.

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Use it to look back in time and explore the first galaxies that

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formed after the Big Bang; to peer into atmospheres of planets orbiting

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distant stars. It’s your eye-piece to the uncharted, unknown and unimagined.

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This is the largest, most complex and challenging

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space telescope ever constructed. It will change our understanding of

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the universe and our place in it. The James Webb Space Telescope.

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music

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Equipped with the largest primary mirror ever to be flown in space; at 6 and a half meters,

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it’s more than 6 times the size of the Hubble Space Telescope primary mirror.

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Webb’s four, cutting-edge, infrared

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instruments and cameras operate at super cold temperatures;

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temperatures colder than the surface of Pluto.

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Getting this cold is done with the help of the largest sunshield ever

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flown; a 5-layer, tennis court-size sunshield that blocks heat

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from the Sun, Earth and Moon.

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Webb will be the first telescope to detect light from the most distant galaxies in the Universe.

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These first galaxies formed about 13.5 billion years ago,

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only 300 or so million years after the Big Bang. Webb carries

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advanced technologies to tackle some of the most fundamental questions about the Universe.

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How did the first galaxies form and evolve? Are there

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chemical signatures of the building-blocks of life on other worlds?

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Is our solar system unique?

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Launching such a large telescope into space is an incredible engineering challenge.

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Fully deployed, Webb is too large to fit inside any rocket fairing.

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Engineers designed it to be folded, like origami, to

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squeeze inside the European Space Agency’s 5-meter diameter, Ariane 5 rocket fairing.

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After launch, controllers on the ground deploy Webb remotely.

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Deployment is an intricate ballet. For nearly 3-weeks, controllers carefully unfold Webb.

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After this delicate dance, Webb’s golden mirrors are precisely

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aligned using motors behind each hexagonal mirror segment, adjusting them

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to form one, perfect mirror. Once the instruments are

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cooled, the exploration will begin. Webb is a

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technological challenge like no other. Born of the efforts of thousands of people

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across the United States, Canada and Europe. The James Webb

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Space Telescope is your telescope. Use it to explore.

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To challenge theories. To see sights yet unseen. It’s yours

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to unfold the beauty and mystery in the Universe, and

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our place in it.