NASA to explore universe with telescope 100 times bigger than Hubble(VIDEO)

[Origanalist]

Published time: 19 Feb, 2016 02:43 (?)

NASA is on a mission to unlock the secrets of the universe with its new Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), as the agency formally begins work on the major astrophysics observatory.
The view will be an impressive 100 times greater than NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, and is expected to help scientists “unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter,” according to NASA.

NASA have dubbed the new telescope a “wider set of eyes on the universe.”

“This mission uniquely combines the ability to discover and characterize planets beyond our own solar system with the sensitivity and optics to look wide and deep into the universe in a quest to unravel the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at Headquarters in Washington.

Dark matter is invisible material that is believed by most astronomers to account for around five-sixths of the matter in the universe. Dark energy is a mysterious, negative pressure that has been speeding up the expansion of the universe.

continued..https://www.rt.com/usa/332941-nasa-wfirst-telescope-hubble-universe/

 

[Matt Collins]

This looks amazing, I'm going to DVR this -

 

[ShaneEnochs]

This looks amazing, I'm going to DVR this -

The James Webb Space Telescope is a different telescope than the WFIRST telescope in the original post. Both are much bigger and much better than Hubble though.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

This looks amazing, I'm going to DVR this -

Is there another Earth-like planet that can support Earth-like life? Yes. Many, many of them. No need for a new telescope to answer that question. Can we reach any of them in a reasonable time-frame? Unfortunately, the answer to that is most likely, almost definitely, no.

A more powerful telescope will be interesting though.