By Steve Gorman

(Reuters). NASA’s James Webb Space Observatory, a $9 billion space telescope capable of looking deeper into the cosmos, is due to launch on Saturday, South America’s Northeast coast. It will open a new era for astronomical exploration.

NASA proclaimed the powerful infrared telescope as its premier space-science observatory. It was placed in the Ariane 5 rocket’s cargo bay, ready for launch at 7:20 AM EST (1220 GMT), from French Guiana’s European Space Agency (ESA).

After a 26 minute ride to space, the French-made rocket carrying the 14,000-pound instrument should be able to release it.

It will take the Webb telescope a month to reach its solar orbit, which is approximately 1,000,000 miles away from Earth. This distance is four times greater than that of the moon. Webb will be in perfect alignment with Earth because of its unique orbit. The planet and telescope both circle the sun together.

Webb’s 30 year-old predecessor, Hubble Space Telescope (or the Hubble Space Telescope), orbits Earth at 340 miles and moves in and out from the planet’s shadow approximately every 90 minutes.

Webb was named after the man who managed NASA during its early decade in the 1960s. He is approximately 100 times as sensitive to Hubble. This will profoundly change scientists’ knowledge of the universe, and the place we play within it.

Webb is able to view the cosmos in infrared wavelengths, which allows it see into the clouds of dust and gas that are creating stars. Hubble works primarily in optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.

COSMOLOGICAL HISTORY LESSON

Additionally, the primary mirror of this telescope, which is made up of 18 sections of hexagonal beryllium metallic coated with gold, has a greater light collection area. This allows it to see more objects from farther away than Hubble and other telescopes.

Astronomers predict that it will reveal a view of the cosmos not seen before – and this is just 100 million year after the Big Bang, which was the theoretical flashpoint responsible for the explosion of the universe an estimated 13.8 trillion years ago.

Hubble’s vision reached back approximately 400 million years after the Big Bang. It revealed objects Webb can reexamine in far more detail.

Astronomers want to know more about super-massive dark holes that are believed to be located in distant galaxies.

Webb’s instruments are also ideal for searching out evidence of life-supporting atmospheres near scores of exoplanets, celestial bodies orbiting faraway stars. They can also be used to view worlds closer to Earth such as Saturn’s moon Titan and Mars.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency lead an international collaboration to create this telescope. Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE 🙂 was the prime contractor. European participation includes the Arianespace launch vehicle.

Webb’s development cost was $8.8bn, while its operating expenses were projected to be $9.66billion. That is a far greater price than what NASA had originally expected for the launch of their spacecraft in 2011.

After six months of calibration and alignment of Webb’s instruments and mirrors, astronomical operations of the telescope will be conducted from Baltimore’s Space Telescope Science Institute.

NASA will then release Webb’s first batch of images, but scientists remain vague about the exact location. Webb can last for up to 10 year.