Biden unveils first image of Webb Telescope, calls it 'historic moment'
Washington [US], July 12: US President Joe Biden released the first images of the James Webb Space Telescope in the presence of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the White House.
Biden took to his Twitter handle and wrote, "The first image from the Webb Space Telescope represents a historic moment for science and technology. For astronomy and space exploration...And for America and all humanity.”
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The first glimpse of the James Webb Space Telescope will change the way people see the universe has arrived.
Biden has released one of Webb's first images, and it's the deepest view of the universe ever captured.
Biden said, "the images generated by the telescope shows the power of American scientific leadership as he expressed his amazement at the satellite's technology and work."
"The federal government must invest more in science and technology than it has in the past," he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, also said that she and Biden often discuss their "mutual passion" for NASA's work.
"This telescope is one of humanity's great engineering achievements," Harris said, referring to the James Webb telescope.
"It is the deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken," Nelson said in a statement, adding that the rest of the high-resolution colour images will make their debut on July 12. The image release will stream live on NASA's website, and opening remarks by NASA leadership and the Webb team will begin at 9:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday, followed by an image release broadcast that will kickstart at 10:30 a.m. Images will be revealed one by one followed by a news conference at 12:30 p.m.
The Webb Telescope is one of the most powerful telescopes launched into space.
"Webb can see backwards in time just after the big bang by looking for galaxies that are so far away, the light has taken many billions of years to get from those galaxies to ourselves," said Jonathan Gardner, Webb's deputy senior project scientist at NASA in a statement during a conference.
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"Webb is bigger than Hubble so that it can see fainter galaxies that are further away," he added.
-PTC News
