NASA: The expensive successor to the James Webb telescope will look for aliens
Meet the next-generation Habitable Worlds Observatory
Since its launch last year, the James Webb Telescope has given us unprecedented glimpses into our universe and revealed new aspects of things we had already observed. But what about his successor?
NASA is already planning what the next generation of an even more powerful telescope will look like, which will be called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). According to Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, who spoke at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society, he said nothing has been decided for sure, but he can confirm the name of the telescope.
A survey of astronomers from various US federal agencies, published in November 2021, calls for the return of the “Great Observatories” program, from which the legendary Hubble was born.
Through this, astronomers call for the next big space observatory to be a telescope about 6 meters across, sensitive to ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared wavelengths, along with the capabilities to perform general astrophysics, as well as detect signs of life on at least 25 nearby exoplanets that they look like Earth . In simple words the WHO will search for aliens and exoplanets.
Astronomers said that this 25 is the minimum number needed to confirm if there is a common species of life, with humanity, and that this telescope will cost about $11 billion dollars .
Since the proposed WHO is upgradeable, it will give engineers more flexibility during its development, which is expected to result in cheaper overall costs. This is especially important as NASA suffers from extreme budget constraints, as it must regularly be approved by Congress.
However, WHO is not the immediate successor of JWST but one of the future ones. The next space telescope to be launched by NASA in 2027 will be the Nancy Grace Roman Observatory , which will hunt deep space for dark matter and exoplanets.
