Hubble Replacement in 2013 -JWST

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Hubble telescope's successor will peer at universe's birth

The world's biggest space telescope will have an eagle-eyed camera that scientists hope will lift the veil from the origins and mysteries of the universe.

The US space agency has unveiled in Washington a full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a probe bejewelled with new technologies that will succeed the aging but invaluable Hubble telescope in 2013.

Scientists hope the telescope, named after the man who ran NASA from 1961 to 1968, will peer back to the first stars after the "big bang" and the formation of solar systems capable of hosting life.

The telescope, a joint project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies, will be three times bigger than Hubble, with a hexagonal mirror 6.5 metres in diameter and five-layer sunshield the size of a tennis court.

The probe being built by Northrop Grumman will incorporate 10 new technologies, including an infrared camera and a spectrometer kept at an extremely low temperature for optimum performance.

The telescope is expected to have a 10-year lifespan.

Launched 17 years ago, Hubble revolutionised astronomy by peering deep into the universe, beaming back dazzling images free of the distortions from Earth's atmosphere.
Orbiting 575 kilometres above Earth, the Hubble has enabled scientists to better measure the age and origins of the universe, observe distant supernovas, and identify and study bodies in and outside the solar system.

-AFP