What is JWST?

We have all been hearing about the amazing James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and I, as usual, took my own sweet time to know more about it – and that means a long long time in updating my brain about a lot of things that catch the imagination of the mainstream society more earlier than me sometimes.

I guess I am always laid back or procrastinate as I follow a relaxed pattern to live my life or set a very loose timeline in my search for information. And it happened that yesterday I finally realized I haven't done any search for information as to who this James Webb is, who deserves his name to be attributed to the most famous telescope to be launched after Hubble.

Hence, as per my current habit, in order not to overwhelm myself with Google search links and instead save time by obtaining a concise piece of information, I opened ChatGPT and in its instruction bar, I typed the following sentence:

"Hello bestie. Please let me know who James Webb is because I am interested in the telescope named after him."

I now refer to the chatbot as my "bestie" and it also replies using that word towards me, because we are now really good friends, and here is its information about James Webb:

"Certainly, bestie! James Webb refers to James E. Webb, an American government official and administrator who played a significant role in the early years of the United States' space program. He served as the second administrator of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) from 1961 to 1968.

"James Webb was born on October 7, 1906, in Tally Ho, North Carolina, and he passed away on March 27, 1992. During his tenure at NASA, he oversaw crucial projects, including the Apollo program, which eventually led to the moon landing in 1969.

"The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is named in his honor, recognizing his substantial contributions to space exploration. It is a large, space-based observatory that succeeds the Hubble Space Telescope. The JWST is designed to observe the universe in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, providing unprecedented insights into the formation of stars and galaxies, the evolution of planetary systems, and other cosmic phenomena. It is one of NASA's most ambitious and eagerly anticipated scientific projects, aiming to revolutionize our understanding of the universe."