Scheduled for launch in 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope Observatory (JWST) will operate 1.5 million kms above the Earth. Its mission is ambitious: examining every phase of cosmic history “from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own solar system,” according to the JWST website. The telescope will look back light-years into the past.

NASA is using Femap software from Siemens PLM Software to help develop the telescope.

The JWST is considered to be the next generation—not the replacement—of the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble is used to study the universe in optical and ultraviolet wavelengths; the JWST is an infrared telescope that enables the viewing of more distant, highly redshifted objects. The JWST will also be larger than the Hubble, which is about the size of a large tractor-trailer truck. At 22 x 12 meters, the JWST will be almost as large as a Boeing 737.

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