The most powerful telescope ever built has finally reached its destination in space.
NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) one month ago from French Guiana.
The telescope is about the size of a tennis court and is now stationed about one million miles away from Earth.
Because it is so large – about three stories tall and 21 feet wide – it could not be launched into space fully assembled.
Instead, it was folded up, launched into space, and then was assembled remotely from Earth.
JWST’s mission is to understand what happened during the beginning of our universe while looking at distant exoplanets and analyze how quickly our universe is expanding.
It will also study planets outside our solar system to see if they can support life.
It will take NASA three months to get all the telescope’s mirror segments adjusted.
It will take about five months for it to calibrate its instruments.
This new telescope isn’t just larger than the Hubble Space telescope, it is also more sophisticated.
JWST can look at longer wavelengths of light, making it possible to capture images that are farther away.
NASA expects to receive its first images this summer.