The challenge was to come up with a lower cost for the large telescope than for previous much smaller space telescopes. In the mid-1990s, a telescope design with an 8 m aperture was considered. The goal was to have a successor mission for HST ready for launch well before 2010. Initial planning for the new mission started in 1989 (visions, conceptual studies). Historical background: Large next-generation projects with high-performance observation requirements take about two decades (and more) from first studies to launch. To accomplish the goals of the science themes, the main JWST design requirement calls for the detection of objects up to 400 times fainter than those observable by current ground-based or spaceborne observatories. Many of the early events happened when the Universe was between 1 million and 1 billion years old, a period that is not known to earthlings (the dark ages of the Universe). The radiation from the very distant objects to be observed is practically all in the infrared region. How did the Universe built up its present chemical/elemental composition?.How do stars and planetary systems form and interact?.Major science goals (themes) of the mission are to find answers to the following questions: 1) 2)
The overall objectives are to study the first stars and galaxies after the big bang. JWST, previously known as NGST (Next Generation Space Telescope), will be the premier space facility for astronomers in the decade following its launch. At the NIR and MWIR wavelengths, it benefits from operating at intrinsically lower backgrounds than any comparably sized telescope on the ground. It is considered the successor mission of HST (Hubble Space Telescope) while operating over a different spectral range. JWST is an orbiting optical observatory and a key element in NASA's Origins Program, optimized for observations in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) Concept Launch Mission Status Observatory Sensor Complement Spacecraft Bus and Sunshield Spinoff Technologies References
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