The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope that was created for infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in orbit, its exceptionally high infrared resolution and sensitivity enable it to see targets that the Hubble Space Telescope could not see because they are either too early, far, or dim.
The primary purpose of the James Webb Space Telescope is to detect feeble light from faraway galaxies, but it has recently spotted one of the brightest things in the night sky, the planet Mars on the 5th of September of 2022, obtaining its first photographs and data.
Multiple orbiters of Mars and the land-bound rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance bring back data regularly. The infrared capabilities of the Webb telescope provide another dimension that might give information about the Martian surface and environment.
The super telescope also caught a glimpse of Neptune using its infrared technology. Details of planetary rings and dust bands around Neptune haven't been seen since Voyager 2 probed past Neptune back in 1989. Sadly not all is well with the space telescope as since late August; NASA has detected possible faults and glitches. On the 20th of September, 2022, Thaddeus Cesari of NASA wrote a blog on the James Webb Space telescope, stating, “On Aug. 24, a mechanism that supports one of these modes, known as medium-resolution spectroscopy (MRS), exhibited what appears to be increased friction during setup for a science observation.” Unfortunately, that means all operations are on standby.
In conclusion, this technology is a gigantic step forward for humankind as it propels us to further our understanding of the universe. After a thorough health check and review of all systems, it appears that the telescope is just fine and should resume its operations as soon as possible. The only thing we can do is wait and hope this minor setback will not happen again.
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