Hubble Space Telescope
The primary mirror is a single glass mirror, 2.4 m (94.5 inches) in diameter. Mass of the mirror: 828 kg (1,825 lbs). Length of the mission: more than 25 years. Orbits Earth roughly every 95 minutes at a height of about 547 km (340 miles). Placed in orbit around Earth by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Designed to be serviced by astronauts
James Webb Telescope
Primary mirror has bout 8 segments and is about 6.5 m (21.3 ft) in diameter. Mass of the mirror: 276 kg (608 lbs). Length of mission: 5 to 10 years (limited by fuel. Located too far from earth to be serviced by astronauts. Positioned about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from Earth at the L2 point.
Will be lauched on an Ariane 5 rocket and will take a month to reach the L2 orbital point.
Both are located in Space, above Earth's atmosphere
Both use a mirror to collect and focus light
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Comparison Between the Hubble and the James Webb
(author: Richard Lee)
