Hubble Space Telescope
Designed to be serviced by astronauts
Length of mission: 5 to 10 years(limited by fuel)
Orbits earth roughly every 95 minutes at a height of about 547 km(340 miles)
The primary mirror is a single glass mirror, 2.4m (94.5 inche) in diameter
Mass of the mirror: 276kg (608lbs)
Placed in orbit around earth by astronauts aboard the space shuttle discovery
James Webb Telescope
Located to far from earth to be serviced by astronauts
Length of mission: more than 25 years
Positioned about 1.5 million km( 1 million miles) from earth at the L2 point
Primary mirror has 18 segments made of beryllium and is about 6.5m ( 21.3 ft.) in diameter.
Mass of the mirror:828 kg (1,825 lbs)
Will be launced on an Ariane 5 rocket and will take a month to reach the L2 orbital point
Both use solar pannels to collect sunlight as the source of power
Both are located in space above earth's atmosphere
Both use a mirror to collect nd focus light
Comparing the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes
(author: Aine Heron
Mod.7/8)
