When the stars came out 

News: Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched on 25 Dec 21. It was a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and involved many universities, organisations, and companies across 14 countries.

It is to be administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI). 

The project proved that the ‘heroic collective’ and ‘heroic individual’ are complementary to each other. The world need story of both ‘individualism and collectivism as both are very important for mankind.  

About JWST

Unlike the Hubble Telescope which worked in the UV and visible light range, it is an Infra-red spectrum telescope.  

The telescope is lighter than Hubble. But it has a mirror six times larger than the Hubble telescope. The JWST is located 1.5 million km away from where the Hubble Telescope was located (i.e., 550 km from the Earth).  

Importance of JWST Project 

It has been planned to enable humanity to see deeper into space. It will help to look further back in time, a period 250 million years after the big bang. Therefore, it’ll help to understand about the origins of the universe.  

In comparison to Hubble, It will take us back about 150 million years further than Hubble.  

It seeks to understand how galaxies form and evolve. It will look for evidence of dark matter, study exoplanets, capture images of planets in our solar system, and other such cosmic curiosities. 

It will augment the understanding of the physical sciences by helping us understand about other life in the universe, Jacques Monod’s thesis etc. 

Lessons to be learnt from JWST Project 

Individualism is important and so is collectivism: A number of heroic individuals like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Stephen Schwarzman, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mukesh Ambani have made significant differences through their will power, strategic vision, perseverance and unique personal qualities.  

In fact, a lot of individual scientists have worked day and night for the success of the JWST Project. 

But, simultaneously, the JWST is a stellar product of collective endeavour marked with twenty plus years of continuous collaboration. It is a collective production of a common good. The teams have worked together to design and manufacture the JWST system, launching, and placing, at the chosen Lagrange point.  

The idea of working together as groups and collaborating for sharing and cooperation, produce outcomes that are also beneficial for society.  

Source: The post is based on an article “When the stars came out” published in The Hindu on 21st April 22.