(CNN) — US President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled the first full-color image from the James Webb Telescope, which he described as “a new window into the history of the universe.”
“Today we’re going to look at the first light shining through that window, light from other worlds orbiting stars far from our own,” Biden said. “It’s amazing to me.”
He added that the international cooperation involved in designing and launching the telescope “exemplifies how America leads the world in partnership with others.”
“This is why the government should invest in science and technology more than we have in the past,” he continued.
Biden presented the picture, before Bill Nelson, the director of NASA, spoke about other planets and trying to determine whether they were habitable.
“I wonder what the press looks like in other places,” the US president joked, before the reporters left.
The event began more than an hour after it had started, with Biden saying he was “engaged in preparing for the trip to the Middle East.”
Today marks an “exciting new chapter in the exploration of our world,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council.
She added: “Now that we are entering a new phase of scientific discovery, the James Webb Telescope will allow us to see deeper into space than ever before, with amazing clarity, and will enhance what we know about the origin of our universe, our solar system, and possibly life itself.”