Launched in 2040 as ‘Second Lagrange Point’
Missions such as planetary imaging and atmospheric analysis
The blueprint for the next-generation space telescope, the Habitable World Observatory (HWO), which will succeed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most powerful space telescope in human history, has been released for the first time. After leaving for outer space about 1.5 million km away from Earth in 2040, the main mission is to find traces of life on an Earth-like alien planet.
Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysical department, introduced the HWO project at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society held in Seattle on the 15th (local time). HWO stands for ‘Habitable Worlds Observatory’ and is also called HabEx.
A space telescope is an optical observation device that performs astronomical observations in outer space outside the earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers observe the universe using wavelengths of various radio waves such as infrared and gamma rays. However, on the ground, there are many radio waves with wavelengths that are difficult to observe due to atmospheric influence, except for specific wavelength bands such as visible light and near-infrared light. If you send a space telescope to distant space like JWST, you can observe radio waves that cannot be observed from the ground.
HWO is a space telescope focused on imaging Earth-like planets and analyzing their atmospheres. Look for signs related to biological activity, such as water, oxygen, and ozone in the atmosphere. In addition to the search for life, it is expected to be used in general astrophysics, such as the history of the creation of the universe, the life cycle and death of the most massive stars.
The same mirrors used in the JWST are required for the HWO to accomplish its mission, and the mirror control technology will likely evolve over the JWST. NASA explains that while JWST requires control technology at the level of nanometers (nm 1nm is 1 billionth of a meter), HWO requires picometer level (pm 1pm is 1/1 trillionth of a meter).
The provisional budget of the HWO project is about 11 billion dollars (about 13.5905 trillion won). NASA plans to use the budget efficiently by encouraging private companies to participate. The target launch date is 2040. The plan is to send it to the ‘Second Lagrangian Point’ 1.5 million km away from the Earth. This point is advantageous for space observation because gravity and centrifugal force are offset and there is no distortion of light. “HWO is still in the initial planning design stage,” said Mr. Clampin. “We still need more time to materialize the project, such as securing a budget.”
Prior to HWO, several next-generation space telescopes are also preparing to launch into space. This is thanks to the success of JWST, which started its mission last year and has produced numerous achievements. NASA launches the ‘Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’ in 2027, which can observe a wider space area in less time than the Hubble Space Telescope. The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the space telescope Plato in 2026, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch ‘Light Bird’ in 2027 to observe gravitational waves. The Chinese National Astronomical Agency (CNSA) will launch an infrared space telescope, Xintian, in 2024, which can secure a field of view 300 times wider than that of Hubble. Korea is participating in the development of ‘SphereX’, an infrared space telescope that takes pictures of the entire universe together with NASA.
Donga Science Reporter Koh Jae-won [email protected]