Hubble Telescope
Designed to be serviced by astronauts
Length of mission: more than 25 years
The primary mirror is a single glass mirror, 2.4 m in diameter
Mass of the mirror: 828 kg
Placed in orbit around Earth by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery
Orbits Earth roughly every 95 minutes at a height of about 547 km
James Webb Telescope
Length of mission:5 to 10 years (limited by fuel)
Located too far from Earth to be servced by astronauts
Primary mirror has 18 segments made of beryllium and is about 6.5 m in diameter
Mass of the mirror: 276 kg
Will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket and will take a month to reach the L2 orbital point
positioned about 1.5 million km from Earth at the L2 point
Both located in space above the Earth's atmosphere
Both use a mirror to collect and focus light
Both use solar panels to collect sunlight as the source of power
Comparing the Hubble Telescope With the James Webb Telescope
(author: Julia Handley
Mod. 7/8)
