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  • NEWS FEATURE

The $11-billion Webb telescope aims to probe the early Universe

Three decades after it was conceived, Hubble’s successor is set for launch. Here’s why astronomers around the world can’t wait.
  1. Alexandra Witze
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Technicians in white overalls inspect the optical portion of the James Webb Space Telescope in a clean room at Northrop Grumman

The 6.5-metre-wide primary mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope is folded up for launch. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Lisa Dang wasn’t even born when astronomers started planning the most ambitious and complex space observatory ever built. Now, three decades later, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is finally about to launch, and Dang has scored some of its first observing time — in a research area that didn’t even exist when it was being designed.

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Nature 600, 208-212 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03620-1

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