Webb Space Telescope or James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is an infrared space telescope, the largest in space at its launch in Dec., 2021. Built from 1999 to 2016 at a cost of $10 billion, it was named for Jame E. Webb, a former NASA administrator (Feb., 1961–Oct., 1968). It will study every phase in the history of the Universe, from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth. JWST design and constrution was led by NASA who partnered with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The telescope has a primary mirror with a diameter of 21 ft/6.5 m consisting of eighteen hexagonal, gold-plated beryllium segments, with light collection six times the Hubble Space Telescope. The JWST's four instruments, mixing cameras and spectrometers, permit obesrvations of objects more distant—and far older and fainter—than the Hubble, allowing for investigations of the earliest states of our universe. The sensitivity of the instruments package require the Webb to be kept in extreme cold and the telescope is equipped with a five-layer sun shield to attenuate heat from the sun.
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