Jump to content
Join the Alien Search, login or register FREE on Aliens and Space Forum
Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site

55 Years Ago: Six Months Until the Moon Landing

NASA

By NASA
in NASA

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
NASA Mentor

NASA

Posted
  • Publishers
Posted

The new year of 1969 dawned with optimism that NASA would meet President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. The previous year saw four Apollo missions, two uncrewed and two carrying three astronauts each, test different components of the lunar landing architecture, culminating with Apollo 8’s December flight around the Moon. Challenges remaining for the new year included testing the Lunar Module (LM) with a crew, first in Earth orbit, and then in lunar orbit, a flight that served as a dress rehearsal for the Moon landing that could take place on the following mission. With flights occurring every two months, engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida processed three spacecraft and launch vehicles in parallel.

Recovering from the fire

The Apollo 1 crew of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, left, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee Liftoff of the first Saturn V on the Apollo 4 mission The Lunar Module for the Apollo 5 mission Recovery of the Apollo 6 Command Module
Left: The Apollo 1 crew of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, left, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee. Middle left: Liftoff of the first Saturn V on the Apollo 4 mission. Middle right: The Lunar Module for the Apollo 5 mission. Right: Recovery of the Apollo 6 Command Module.

The years 1967 and 1968 proved turbulent for the world. For NASA, the focus remained on recovering from the tragic Apollo 1 fire in time to meet President Kennedy’s fast approaching end of the decade deadline. The fire resulted in a thorough redesign of the Command Module (CM) to reduce flammability risks and to include an easy to open hatch. Engineers also removed flammable materials from the Lunar Module (LM). In November 1967, the first flight of the Saturn V carried Apollo 4 on a nine-hour uncrewed mission to test the CM’s heat shield. Apollo 5 in January 1968 completed an uncrewed test of the LM so successful that NASA decided to cancel a second test. Although fraught with problems, the April 1968 flight of Apollo 6 tested the CM heat shield once again. Managers believed that engineers could solve the problems encountered during this mission and declared that the next Saturn V would carry a crew.

Apollo 7 and 8

Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, left, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham on the recovery ship USS Essex following their 11-day mission The famous Earthrise photograph from Apollo 8
Left: Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, left, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham on the recovery ship USS Essex following their 11-day mission. Right: The famous Earthrise photograph from Apollo 8.

By October 1968, thorough ground testing of the Apollo spacecraft enabled the first crewed mission since the fire. Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham successfully completed the 11-day test flight, achieving all mission objectives. In August, with LM development running behind schedule, senior NASA managers began discussions of sending Apollo 8 on a circumlunar flight, pending the outcome of Apollo 7. With that hurdle successfully cleared, astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders orbited the Moon 10 times during Christmas 1968, taking a giant leap toward achieving the Moon landing.

At the White House, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders present a copy of the Earthrise photograph to President Lyndon B. Johnson Accompanied by Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Borman, Lovell, and Anders take a motorcade from the White House to the Capitol Borman, left, Lovell, and Anders address a joint meeting of Congress
Left: At the White House, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders present a copy of the Earthrise photograph to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Middle: Accompanied by Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Borman, Lovell, and Anders take a motorcade from the White House to the Capitol. Right: Borman, left, Lovell, and Anders address a joint meeting of Congress.

With their space missions completed, the Apollo 7 and 8 crews remained busy with events celebrating their successes. On Jan. 3, 1969, TIME magazine named Apollo 8 astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders their Men of the Year for 1968. Kicking off a whirlwind of events, on Jan. 9, outgoing President Lyndon B. Johnson welcomed them to the White House, where he presented them with NASA Distinguished Service Medals. They in turn presented him with a copy of the famous Earthrise photograph. Accompanied by Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, Borman, Lovell, and Anders rode in a motorcade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol where the astronauts addressed a joint meeting of Congress. From there, they proceeded to the State Department for a press conference, their day ending with a dinner in their honor at the Smithsonian Institution.

Apollo 8 astronauts James A. Lovell, left, Frank Borman, and William A. Anders wave to the crowds assembled along their parade route in New York City Borman, Lovell, and Anders address a crowd at Newark airport In Miami’s Orange Bowl Lovell, left, Borman, and Anders lead the fans in the Pledge of Allegiance at Super Bowl III
Left: Apollo 8 astronauts James A. Lovell, left, Frank Borman, and William A. Anders wave to the crowds assembled along their parade route in New York City. Middle: Borman, Lovell, and Anders address a crowd at Newark airport. Right: In Miami’s Orange Bowl Lovell, left, Borman, and Anders lead the fans in the Pledge of Allegiance at Super Bowl III.

On Jan. 10, New York City held a tickertape parade for Borman, Lovell, and Anders. Mayor John V. Lindsay presented them with Medals of the City of New York, after which they attended a luncheon at Lincoln Center, a reception at the United Nations, and dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The next day, in 15-degree weather, they spoke to a crowd of about 1,500 people at Newark Airport before boarding a plane for much warmer Miami, where on Jan. 12 they attended Super Bowl III, and led the Orange Bowl crowd in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

In Houston, Apollo 8 astronauts William A. Anders, left, Frank Borman, and James A. Lovell present an Earthrise photograph and flags of Texas to Governor John B. Connally, far right, and Mayor Louie Welch, hidden behind the photograph Borman and his family in the parade through downtown Houston, with Lovell and Anders and their families following behind Lovell, Borman, and Anders wave to the crowds in the parade in Chicago
Left: In Houston, Apollo 8 astronauts William A. Anders, left, Frank Borman, and James A. Lovell present an Earthrise photograph and flags of Texas to Governor John B. Connally, far right, and Mayor Louie Welch, hidden behind the photograph. Middle: Borman and his family in the parade through downtown Houston, with Lovell and Anders and their families following behind. Right: Lovell, Borman, and Anders wave to the crowds in the parade in Chicago.

A crowd estimated at about 250,000 welcomed Borman, Lovell, and Anders home to Houston on Jan. 13. In a ceremony outside the Albert Thomas Convention Center, Mayor Louie Welch presented them with bronze medals for heroism, and the astronauts presented Welch and Texas Governor John B. Connally with plaques bearing Texas flags they had flown to the Moon as well as a framed copy of the Earthrise photograph. The astronauts took part in the largest parade in the city’s history. The next day, the city of Chicago welcomed Borman, Lovell, and Anders. An estimated 1.5 million people cheered them on their parade route to a reception where they received honors from city council.

The Apollo 7 Command Module and a Lunar Module mockup on a float in President Richard M. Nixon’s inauguration parade; Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, R. Walter Cunningham, and Donn F. Eisele preceded the float in an open-air limousine Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, left, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders with President Nixon at the White House
Left: The Apollo 7 Command Module and a Lunar Module mockup on a float in President Richard M. Nixon’s inauguration parade; Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, R. Walter Cunningham, and Donn F. Eisele preceded the float in an open-air limousine. Image credit: courtesy Richard Nixon Library. Right: Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, left, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders with President Nixon at the White House.

On Jan. 20, Apollo 7 astronauts Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham rode in President Richard M. Nixon’s inauguration parade in Washington, D.C. Their spacecraft and a LM mockup rode on a float behind them. Ten days later, the new President invited Apollo 8 astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders to the White House where he announced that Borman and his family would embark on an 18-day goodwill tour of eight European nations, starting on Feb. 2.

Apollo 9

The LM remained the one component of the lunar landing architecture not yet tested by astronauts in space. That task fell to James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, the crew of Apollo 9. They and their backups Charles “Pete” Conrad, Richard F. Gordon, and Alan L. Bean spent many hours in the LM simulators and training for the spacewalk component of the mission.

In preparation for the Apollo 9 spacewalk, astronaut Russell L. Schweickart tests the Portable Life Support System backpack in an altitude chamber at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Schweickart trains for his spacewalk in MSC’s Water Immersion Facility Apollo 9 backup astronauts Richard F. Gordon, left, and Alan L. Bean train for the spacewalk in the KC-135 zero-gravity aircraft
Left: In preparation for the Apollo 9 spacewalk, astronaut Russell L. Schweickart tests the Portable Life Support System backpack in an altitude chamber at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Middle: Schweickart trains for his spacewalk in MSC’s Water Immersion Facility. Right: Apollo 9 backup astronauts Richard F. Gordon, left, and Alan L. Bean train for the spacewalk in the KC-135 zero-gravity aircraft.

Apollo 9’s 10-day mission would take place in the relative safety of low Earth orbit. After docking with the LM, the crew’s first major task involved the first spacewalk of the Apollo program and the only in-space test of the new A7L spacesuit before the Moon landing. McDivitt and Schweickart planned to enter the LM, leaving Scott in the CM. Schweickart and Scott would each perform a spacewalk from their respective spacecraft. Scott would only stand in the open CM hatch while Schweickart would exit via the LM’s front hatch onto its porch, translate over to the CM using handrails, retrieve materials samples mounted on the spacecraft’s exterior and return back to the LM, spending two hours outside. This spacewalk tested the ability of crews to transfer through open space, in case a malfunction with the tunnel or hatches between the two spacecraft prevented an internal transfer. The day after the spacewalk, McDivitt and Schweickart planned to undock the LM, leaving Scott in the CM, fly it up to 100 miles away, testing its descent and ascent stages before returning to Scott in the CM who would perform the rendezvous and docking.

Apollo 9 rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Apollo 9 rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Apollo 9 rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, three views of the Apollo 9 rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A.

The first of the three vehicles in processing flow at KSC, Apollo 9 rolled out from High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39A on Jan. 3, just 13 days after Apollo 8 launched from the same facility, causing relatively minor damage. Stages of the Apollo 9 Saturn V had arrived at KSC during the spring and summer of 1968, the LM arrived in June and the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in October. Workers completed stacking of the Saturn V in October, adding the Apollo spacecraft in early December. On Jan. 8, NASA announced Feb. 28, 1969, as the planned launch date for Apollo 9.

Apollo 9 astronauts James A. McDivitt, front, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart depart crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A for emergency escape training Scott, left, Schweickart, and McDivitt in the White Room during the pad emergency escape drill Scott, left, McDivitt, and Schweickart pose with their mission patch following a press conference at Grumman Aircraft and Engineering Corporation in Bethpage, New York
Left: Apollo 9 astronauts James A. McDivitt, front, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart depart crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A for emergency escape training. Middle: Scott, left, Schweickart, and McDivitt in the White Room during the pad emergency escape drill. Right: Scott, left, McDivitt, and Schweickart pose with their mission patch following a press conference at Grumman Aircraft and Engineering Corporation in Bethpage, New York.

Workers at the pad immediately began to prepare the vehicle for flight, including software integration tests with the Mission Control Center at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. On Jan. 15, the prime and backup crews conducted emergency egress training from their spacecraft at Launch Pad 39A. Launch controllers at KSC successfully completed the Flight Readiness Test, the final major overall test of the vehicle’s systems, between Jan. 19 and 22. During a Jan. 25 press conference at the Grumman Aircraft and Engineering Corporation in Bethpage, New York, manufacturer of the LM, the Apollo 9 astronauts provided reporters with an overview of their mission.

Apollo 10

Assuming Apollo 9 met its objectives and the LM proved space worthy in Earth orbit, in May Apollo 10 would repeat many of those tests in lunar orbit, including flying to within nine miles of the Moon’s surface.

Apollo 10 backup astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, front, and Edgar D. Mitchell arrive in the vacuum chamber in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a Lunar Module (LM) altitude test Engineers in the MSOB conduct a docking test between the LM and the Command Module (CM) docking test Engineers prepare the CM for an altitude test
Left: Apollo 10 backup astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, front, and Edgar D. Mitchell arrive in the vacuum chamber in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a Lunar Module (LM) altitude test. Middle: Engineers in the MSOB conduct a docking test between the LM and the Command Module (CM) docking test. Right: Engineers prepare the CM for an altitude test.

In November 1968, just six months before the planned launch date, NASA officially named the Apollo 10 crew. The prime crew consisted of Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan. All had flown Gemini missions and had recently served as the Apollo 7 backup crew. L. Gordon Cooper, Donn F. Eisele, and Edgar D. Mitchell served as their backups.

In High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the three stages of the Apollo 10 Saturn V await the arrival of the spacecraft In KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), workers remove the Lunar Module (LM) from an altitude chamber Workers in the MSOB lower the LM onto the base of the Spacecraft LM Adapter (SLA) After installing the main engine bell, workers lift the Command and Service Module for mating with the SLA
Left: In High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the three stages of the Apollo 10 Saturn V await the arrival of the spacecraft. Middle left: In KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), workers remove the Lunar Module (LM) from an altitude chamber. Middle right: Workers in the MSOB lower the LM onto the base of the Spacecraft LM Adapter (SLA). Right: After installing the main engine bell, workers lift the Command and Service Module for mating with the SLA.

In the VAB’s High Bay 2, workers had completed stacking the Apollo 10 Saturn V’s three stages by the final days of 1968, while their colleagues prepared to roll Apollo 9’s rocket to the pad a few days later. In the nearby Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB), prime and backup crews completed altitude tests of the LM in December and workers conducted a docking test between the LM and the CM. On Jan. 16, Stafford, Young, and Cernan completed their altitude test of the CM, followed by Cooper, Eisele, and Mitchell the next day. Workers removed the spacecraft from the altitude chamber in preparation for its rollover to the VAB in early February for stacking onto the rocket.

Apollo 11

Assuming Apollo 9 and 10 accomplished their objectives, Apollo 11 would attempt the first Moon landing in July. Should Apollo 11 not succeed, NASA would try again with Apollo 12 in September and even Apollo 13 in November or December. Spacecraft and rocket manufacturers continued building components to meet that aggressive schedule.

Apollo 11 crew of Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, left, Neil A. Armstrong, and Michael Collins
Apollo 11 crew of Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, left, Neil A. Armstrong, and Michael Collins.

On Jan. 9, a mere six months before the planned launch date, NASA formally announced the Apollo 11 crew, the second all-veteran three-person crew after Apollo 10 – and the last all-veteran crew until STS-26 in 1988. The next day, NASA introduced the Apollo 11 crew during a press conference at MSC. The prime crew consisted of Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin. Each astronaut had flown one Gemini mission. Armstrong and Aldrin had served on the backup crew for Apollo 8 while Collins was initially a member of the prime Apollo 8 crew until a bone spur in his neck requiring surgery sidelined him. He fully recovered from the operation, and NASA included him in the Apollo 11 crew. The Apollo 11 backup crew consisted of James A. Lovell, William A. Anders, and Fred W. Haise. Lovell and Anders had just completed the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission with Haise a backup crew member on that flight. When Anders announced that he would retire from NASA in August 1969 to join the National Space Council, Thomas K. “Ken” Mattingly began training in parallel with Anders in case the mission slipped past that date.

The Lunar Module for Apollo 11 arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida The Apollo 11 Command Module, left, and Service Module, in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building shortly after their arrival The S-IVB third stage for Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket arrives at KSC
Left: The Lunar Module for Apollo 11 arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: The Apollo 11 Command Module, left, and Service Module, in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building shortly after their arrival. Right: The S-IVB third stage for Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket arrives at KSC.

Hardware began to arrive at KSC for Apollo 11. With the Apollo 10 CSM still undergoing testing in the MSOB, the Apollo 11 LM’s ascent and descent stages arrived Jan. 8 and 12, respectively, followed by the CM and SM on Jan. 23. Workers in the MSOB prepared the spacecraft for vacuum chamber testing. The Saturn V’s S-IVB third stage arrived on Jan. 19. Workers trucked it to the VAB where it awaited the arrival of the first two stages, scheduled for February.

Lunar Receiving Laboratory

Schematic of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) showing its major functional areas A mockup Command Module in the spacecraft storage area, part of the Crew Reception Area, in the LRL
Left:  Schematic of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) showing its major functional areas.  Right:  A mockup Command Module in the spacecraft storage area, part of the Crew Reception Area, in the LRL.

With the Moon landing possibly just six months away, NASA continued to prepare key facilities designed to receive astronauts returning from the Moon. The 83,000-square-foot Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL), residing in MSC’s Building 37, was specially designed and built to isolate the astronauts, their spacecraft, and lunar samples to prevent back-contamination of the Earth by any possible lunar micro-organisms, and to maintain the lunar samples in as pristine a condition as possible. The building was completed in 1967, and over the next year, workers outfitted its laboratories and other facilities. A 10-day simulation in the facility in November 1968 found some deficiencies that NASA addressed promptly. On Jan. 23, 1969, workers brought a mockup Apollo CM into the LRL’s spacecraft storage area for fit checks.

Workers at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Virginia hoist the Mobile Quarantine facility (MQF) onto the USS Guadalcanal The flexible tunnel set up between the MQF and a mockup Command Module Workers in Norfolk load the MQF onto a C-141 cargo plane for the return flight to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston
Left: Workers at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Virginia hoist the Mobile Quarantine facility (MQF) onto the USS Guadalcanal. Middle: The flexible tunnel set up between the MQF and a mockup Command Module. Right: Workers in Norfolk load the MQF onto a C-141 cargo plane for the return flight to Ellington Air Force Base in Houston.

An integral component of the back-contamination prevention process was the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF). Following lunar landing missions, the MQF housed astronauts and support personnel from their arrival onboard the prime recovery ship shortly after splashdown through transport to the LRL. Under contract to NASA, Melpar, Inc., of Falls Church, Virginia, converted four 35-foot Airstream trailers into MQFs, delivering the first unit in March 1968 and the last three in the spring of 1969. The first unit was used extensively for testing, with lessons learned incorporated into the later models. On Jan. 21, 1969, workers loaded the MQF aboard a U.S. Air Force C-141 cargo plane at Ellington Air Force Base near MSC to transport it to the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Virginia. Six recovery specialists from MSC spent 10 days inside the MQF, first aboard the helicopter landing-platform USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), including attaching a flexible tunnel to a boilerplate Apollo CM, and then aboard the destroyer USS Fox (DLG-33). The overall exercise, successfully completed on Feb. 3, tested all MQF systems aboard ships and aircraft to simulate recovery operations after a lunar landing mission.

To be continued …

With special thanks to Ed Hengeveld for imagery expertise.

News from around the world in January 1969:

Jan. 7 – Congress doubles the President’s salary from $100,000 to $200,000 a year.

Jan. 9 – First test flight of the Franco-British Concorde supersonic jetliner in Bristol, U.K.

Jan. 12 – In Super Bowl III, played in Miami’s Orange Bowl, the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts 16 to 7.

Jan. 16 – The Soviet Union conducts the first docking between two crewed spacecraft and the first crew transfer by spacewalking cosmonauts during the Soyuz 4 and 5 missions.

Jan. 20 – Richard M. Nixon inaugurated as the 37th U.S. President.

Jan. 30 – The Beatles perform their last live gig, a 42-minute concert on the rooftop of Apple Corps Headquarters in London.

Explore More

skylab-4-2-months-20-gibson-during-eva-4
8 min read

50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Begin Record-Breaking Third Month in Space

Article 1 week ago
orbital-1-launch-4-cygnus-demo-1-launch-
6 min read

10 Years Ago: The First Operational Cygnus Cargo Mission to the Space Station

Article 1 week ago
1-canberra-complex-05.jpg?w=300
5 min read

NASA’s Deep Space Network Turns 60 and Prepares for the Future

Article 4 weeks ago

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Similar Topics

    • NASA
      3 Years of Science: 10 Cosmic Surprises from NASA’s Webb Telescope
      By NASA
      Explore Webb Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Webb’s First Images Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning Since July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been unwaveringly focused on our universe. With its unprecedented power to detect and analyze otherwise invisible infrared light, Webb is making observations that were once impossible, changing our view of the cosmos from the most distant galaxies to our own solar system.
      Webb was built with the promise of revolutionizing astronomy, of rewriting the textbooks. And by any measure, it has more than lived up to the hype — exceeding expectations to a degree that scientists had not dared imagine. Since science operations began, Webb has completed more than 860 scientific programs, with one-quarter of its time dedicated to imaging and three-quarters to spectroscopy. In just three years, it has collected nearly 550 terabytes of data, yielding more than 1,600 research papers, with intriguing results too numerous to list and a host of new questions to answer.
      Here are just a few noteworthy examples.
      1. The universe evolved significantly faster than we previously thought.
      Webb was specifically designed to observe “cosmic dawn,” a time during the first billion years of the universe when the first stars and galaxies were forming. What we expected to see were a few faint galaxies, hints of what would become the galaxies we see nearby.
      Instead, Webb has revealed surprisingly bright galaxies that developed within 300 million years of the big bang; galaxies with black holes that seem far too massive for their age; and an infant Milky Way-type galaxy that existed when the universe was just 600 million years old. Webb has observed galaxies that already “turned off” and stopped forming stars within a billion years of the big bang, as well as those that developed quickly into modern-looking “grand design” spirals within 1.5 billion years.
      Hundreds of millions of years might not seem quick for a growth spurt, but keep in mind that the universe formed in the big bang roughly 13.8 billion years ago. If you were to cram all of cosmic time into one year, the most distant of these galaxies would have matured within the first couple of weeks, rapidly forming multiple generations of stars and enriching the universe with the elements we see today.
      Image: JADES deep field
      A near-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a region known as the JADES Deep Field. Tens of thousands of galaxies are visible in this tiny patch of sky, including Little Red Dots and hundreds of galaxies that existed more than 13.2 billion years ago, when the universe was less than 600 million years old. Webb also spotted roughly 80 ancient supernovae, many of which exploded when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. This is ten times more supernovae than had ever been discovered before in the early universe. Comparing these supernovae from the distant past with those in the more recent, nearby universe helps us understand how stars in these early times formed, lived, and died, seeding space with the elements for new generations of stars and their planets. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JADES Collaboration 2. Deep space is scattered with enigmatic “Little Red Dots.”
      Webb has revealed a new type of galaxy: a distant population of mysteriously compact, bright, red galaxies dubbed Little Red Dots. What makes Little Red Dots so bright and so red? Are they lit up by dense groupings of unusually bright stars or by gas spiraling into a supermassive black hole, or both? And whatever happened to them? Little Red Dots seem to have appeared in the universe around 600 million years after the big bang (13.2 billion years ago), and rapidly declined in number less than a billion years later. Did they evolve into something else? If so, how? Webb is probing Little Red Dots in more detail to answer these questions.
      3. Pulsating stars and a triply lensed supernova are further evidence that the “Hubble Tension” is real.
      How fast is the universe expanding? It’s hard to say because different ways of calculating the current expansion rate yield different results — a dilemma known as the Hubble Tension. Are these differences just a result of measurement errors, or is there something weird going on in the universe? So far, Webb data indicates that the Hubble Tension is not caused by measurement errors. Webb was able to distinguish pulsating stars from nearby stars in a crowded field, ensuring that the measurements weren’t contaminated by extra light. Webb also discovered a distant, gravitationally lensed supernova whose image appears in three different locations and at three different times during its explosion. Calculating the expansion rate based on the brightness of the supernova at these three different times provides an independent check on measurements made using other techniques. Until the matter of the Hubble Tension is settled, Webb will continue measuring different objects and exploring new methods.
      4. Webb has found surprisingly rich and varied atmospheres on gas giants orbiting distant stars.
      While NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope made the first detection of gases in the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet (a planet outside our solar system), Webb has taken studies to an entirely new level. Webb has revealed a rich cocktail of chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide — none of which had been clearly detected in an atmosphere outside our solar system before. Webb has also been able to examine exotic climates of gas giants as never before, detecting flakes of silica “snow” in the skies of the puffy, searing-hot gas giant WASP-17 b, for example, and measuring differences in temperature and cloud cover between the permanent morning and evening skies of WASP-39 b.
      Image: Spectrum of WASP-107 b
      A transmission spectrum of the “warm Neptune” exoplanet WASP-107 b captured by NASA’s Hubble and Webb space telescopes, shows clear evidence for water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, and ammonia in the planet’s atmosphere. These measurements allowed researchers to estimate the interior temperature and mass of the core of the planet, as well as understand the chemistry and dynamics of the atmosphere. NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI) 5. A rocky planet 40 light-years from Earth may have an atmosphere fed by gas bubbling up from its lava-covered surface.
      Detecting, let alone analyzing, a thin layer of gas surrounding a small rocky planet is no easy feat, but Webb’s extraordinary ability to measure extremely subtle changes in the brightness of infrared light makes it possible. So far, Webb has been able to rule out significant atmosphere on a number of rocky planets, and has found tantalizing signs of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide on 55 Cancri e, a lava world that orbits a Sun-like star. With findings like these, Webb is laying the groundwork for NASA’s future Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will be the first mission purpose-built to directly image and search for life on Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars.
      6. Webb exposes the skeletal structure of nearby spiral galaxies in mesmerizing detail.
      We already knew that galaxies are collections of stars, planets, dust, gas, dark matter, and black holes: cosmic cities where stars form, live, die, and are recycled into the next generation. But we had never been able to see the structure of a galaxy and the interactions between stars and their environment in such detail. Webb’s infrared vision reveals filaments of dust that trace the spiral arms, old star clusters that make up galactic cores, newly forming stars still encased in dense cocoons of glowing dust and gas, and clusters of hot young stars carving enormous cavities in the dust. It also elucidates how stellar winds and explosions actively reshape their galactic homes.
      Image: PHANGS Phantom Galaxy (M74/NGC 628)
      A near- to mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope highlights details in the complex structure of a nearby galaxy that are invisible to other telescopes. The image of NGC 628, also known as the Phantom Galaxy, shows spiral arms with lanes of warm dust (represented in red), knots of glowing gas (orange-yellow), and giant bubbles (black) carved by hot, young stars. The dust-free core of the galaxy is filled with older, cooler stars (blue). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS team 7. It can be hard to tell the difference between a brown dwarf and a rogue planet.
      Brown dwarfs form like stars, but are not dense or hot enough to fuse hydrogen in their cores like stars do. Rogue planets form like other planets, but have been ejected from their system and no longer orbit a star. Webb has spotted hundreds of brown-dwarf-like objects in the Milky Way, and has even detected some candidates in a neighboring galaxy. But some of these objects are so small — just a few times the mass of Jupiter — that it is hard to figure out how they formed. Are they free-floating gas giant planets instead? What is the least amount of material needed to form a brown dwarf or a star? We’re not sure yet, but thanks to three years of Webb observations, we now know there is a continuum of objects from planets to brown dwarfs to stars.
      8. Some planets might be able to survive the death of their star.
      When a star like our Sun dies, it swells up to form a red giant large enough to engulf nearby planets. It then sheds its outer layers, leaving behind a super-hot core known as a white dwarf. Is there a safe distance that planets can survive this process? Webb might have found some planets orbiting white dwarfs. If these candidates are confirmed, it would mean that it is possible for planets to survive the death of their star, remaining in orbit around the slowly cooling stellar ember.
      9. Saturn’s water supply is fed by a giant fountain of vapor spewing from Enceladus.
      Among the icy “ocean worlds” of our solar system, Saturn’s moon Enceladus might be the most intriguing. NASA’s Cassini mission first detected water plumes coming out of its southern pole. But only Webb could reveal the plume’s true scale as a vast cloud spanning more than 6,000 miles, about 20 times wider than Enceladus itself. This water spreads out into a donut-shaped torus encircling Saturn beyond the rings that are visible in backyard telescopes. While a fraction of the water stays in that ring, the majority of it spreads throughout the Saturnian system, even raining down onto the planet itself. Webb’s unique observations of rings, auroras, clouds, winds, ices, gases, and other materials and phenomena in the solar system are helping us better understand what our cosmic neighborhood is made of and how it has changed over time.
      Video: Water plume and torus from Enceladus
      A combination of images and spectra captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope show a giant plume of water jetting out from the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, creating a donut-shaped ring of water around the planet.
      Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, G. Villanueva (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Pagan (STScI), L. Hustak (STScI) 10. Webb can size up asteroids that may be headed for Earth.
      In 2024 astronomers discovered an asteroid that, based on preliminary calculations, had a chance of hitting Earth. Such potentially hazardous asteroids become an immediate focus of attention, and Webb was uniquely able to measure the object, which turned out to be the size of a 15-story building. While this particular asteroid is no longer considered a threat to Earth, the study demonstrated Webb’s ability to assess the hazard.
      Webb also provided support for NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which deliberately smashed into the Didymos binary asteroid system, showing that a planned impact could deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Both Webb and Hubble observed the impact, serving witness to the resulting spray of material that was ejected. Webb’s spectroscopic observations of the system confirmed that the composition of the asteroids is probably typical of those that could threaten Earth.
      —-
      In just three years of operations, Webb has brought the distant universe into focus, revealing unexpectedly bright and numerous galaxies. It has unveiled new stars in their dusty cocoons, remains of exploded stars, and skeletons of entire galaxies. It has studied weather on gas giants, and hunted for atmospheres on rocky planets. And it has provided new insights into the residents of our own solar system.
      But this is only the beginning. Engineers estimate that Webb has enough fuel to continue observing for at least 20 more years, giving us the opportunity to answer additional questions, pursue new mysteries, and put together more pieces of the cosmic puzzle.
      For example: What were the very first stars like? Did stars form differently in the early universe? Do we even know how galaxies form? How do stars, dust, and supermassive black holes affect each other? What can merging galaxy clusters tell us about the nature of dark matter? How do collisions, bursts of stellar radiation, and migration of icy pebbles affect planet-forming disks? Can atmospheres survive on rocky worlds orbiting active red dwarf stars? Is Uranus’s moon Ariel an ocean world?
      As with any scientific endeavor, every answer raises more questions, and Webb has shown that its investigative power is unmatched. Demand for observing time on Webb is at an all-time high, greater than any other telescope in history, on the ground or in space. What new findings await?
      By Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin and Margaret W. Carruthers, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
      Media Contacts
      Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
      Related Information
      More Webb News
      More Webb Images
      Webb Science Themes
      Webb Mission Page
      Related For Kids
      What is the Webb Telescope?
      SpacePlace for Kids
      En Español
      Ciencia de la NASA
      NASA en español 
      Space Place para niños
      Keep Exploring Related Topics
      James Webb Space Telescope


      Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…


      Galaxies



      Exoplanets



      Universe


      Share








      Details
      Last Updated Jul 02, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
      James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Astrophysics Black Holes Brown Dwarfs Exoplanet Science Exoplanets Galaxies Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Nebulae Science & Research Star-forming Nebulae Stars Studying Exoplanets The Universe View the full article
    • Amazing Space
      Backyard Astronomy: LIVE Streaming the Moon 1st July
      By Amazing Space
      Backyard Astronomy: LIVE Streaming the Moon 1st July
    • Amazing Space
      Backyard Astronomy: LIVE Streaming the Moon 1st July
      By Amazing Space
      Backyard Astronomy: LIVE Streaming the Moon 1st July
    • European Space Agency
      Will asteroid 2024 YR4 hit the Moon?
      By European Space Agency
      Asteroid 2024 YR4 made headlines earlier this year when its probability of impacting Earth in 2032 rose as high as 3%. While an Earth impact has now been ruled out, the asteroid’s story continues.
      The final glimpse of the asteroid as it faded out of view of humankind’s most powerful telescopes left it with a 4% chance of colliding with the Moon on 22 December 2032.
      The likelihood of a lunar impact will now remain stable until the asteroid returns to view in mid-2028. In this FAQ, find out why we are left with this lingering uncertainty and how ESA's planned NEOMIR space telescope will help us avoid similar situations in the future.
      View the full article
    • NASA
      Waning Crescent Moon
      By NASA
      NASA/Bob Hines NASA astronaut Bob Hines took this picture of the waning crescent moon on May 8, 2022, as the International Space Station flew into an orbital sunrise 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of the United States. Since the station became operational in November 2000, crew members have produced hundreds of thousands of images of our Moon and Earth through Crew Earth Observations.
      Image credit: NASA/Bob Hines
      View the full article

  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...