A life-size model of a huge new space observatory billed as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is taking on the Big Apple this week at the World Science celebration.The gigantic telescope model – roughly the size of a tennis court – will be on show at New York City's Battery Park from Tuesday through Sunday, June 6. The actual James webb space telescope is slated to launch in 2014.
"The Webb is the world's next huge space telescope, and is the scientific successor to the Hubble," said Sally Koris, spokeswoman for Northrop Grumman, the company contracted by NASA to build the telescope."The full size model on display is constructed mainly of aluminum and steel, and weighs 12,000 pounds. It measures about 80 feet long, 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall.
The James webb telescope will watch the universe in long-wavelength infrared light to peer at the most distant objects in the universe, beyond the reach of ground based telescopes or the Hubble observatory. It will study the genesis of stars and galaxies in the universe, as well as a host of other cosmic questions.The festival is a week-long program in New York featuring 40 events on a range of scientific topics hosted by luminaries across many fields.
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