Launched on Dec. 25, 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most complex telescope ever deployed in space — capable of studying every phase of cosmic history. The telescope is designed to provide wondrous images and unprecedented scientific data. It is capable of peering into the limits of the known universe and can bear witness to the early cosmos. Discoveries enabled by the telescope stir existential awe as they expand our understanding of the heavens.

In addition to providing imagery and data about the far reaches of the cosmos, the telescope will also provide new information about our solar system and details about an increasing number of known exoplanets — planets orbiting other stars within our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Through spectroscopy — the analysis of wavelengths coming from these worlds — scientists can help identify planets with advantageous conditions for supporting life as we know it.

The telescope represents a multinational effort and investment, drawing from talents and resources of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, a European Space Agency launch facility. The momentum of the Earth’s spin at this near-equatorial location gave a powerful boost to the launch of the European Ariane 5 rocket that carried the telescope.

Released from the rocket, the telescope then unfolded as it traveled to a special position about a million miles from Earth. The sensitive telescope is protected from heat and light by a five-layer shield of high-tech materials, unfurled to about the size of a tennis court. So situated, the telescope operates in extreme cold, at temperatures below 50 kelvins (minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit). The extraordinary chill is vital, as the telescope must sense faint heat and light from celestial sources — some of them billions of light-years away. The telescope’s highly polished gold mirrors are ideally suited for this.

Before launch, members of the scientific community from all over the world developed plans and scientific targets for investigation by the telescope. Much of the telescope itself, including its beautiful gold mirrors, was assembled, polished, and tested in various facilities in the United States. The complex process had components shuttled among locations across the nation before shipment to the launch facility in South America. Instruments for science and guidance were contributed by U.S., Canadian, and European partners. NASA managed the overall development of the telescope.

Scientists have great expectations for Webb — including answers to some age-old questions and, without a doubt, a new array of cosmic mysteries