On February 25, we celebrated two months of the James Webb Space Telescope. I was like a kid, on December 25, stuck in front of my computer watching the take-off stream, for that matter. That was a Christmas present…
Named in honor of James E. Webb, NASA administrator between 1961 and 1968 (period covering a good part of the Apollo program), it is the result of a collaboration between NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and European (ESA).
His mission? I’ll make it simple: the James Webb telescope is said to be no more and no less than Hubble’s “successor”. It will therefore aim, as soon as it is operational, to scan the universe, in its case in infrared light, and to guide us in the study of the great secrets of the cosmos: Big Bang, black holes, exoplanets… In short, all the micmac at Interstellar & Cie, but for real.
Why am I bothering you with this, you say? Well, with the depressing news of the past few days, the time seemed right to me. We know that humanity is often capable of the worst, and history, like current events, are there to remind us of this. However, we too often forget the greatness of our unfortunate species. We recall its massacres, without mentioning those who stood up once morest oppression, we recount its mistakes but not its achievements, we mourn its horrors, but we sing too little of its victories.
When you see the first images of James Webb, think regarding it. If we are able to ascend to the stars, freeing ourselves from the chains of warmongering and mediocrity is not beyond reach. The sky is waiting for us.
