Ethan Bondick is a university student who excels in math and other sciences. Interested in engineering and the challenges the discipline solves, Ethan Bondick follows developments in the technology used in the quest to learn more about outer space.
One major engineering feat that recently launched is the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Having taken three decades to create, the space traveling telescope has been designed to accommodate extreme temperatures of minus 217 degrees Celsius, in a vacuum environment. It supplants the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched in 1990 and famously required an astronaut-led rescue mission to repair an improperly polished mirror.
With the JWST described as a prototype, it faces an added challenge in that rescue missions can’t be undertaken. Failure is therefore not an option. The reason for this lack of serviceability is that the telescope will travel deep into space where astronauts cannot reach it, given the current space travel technology. The telescope represents a pioneering piece of equipment designed to provide new clues about an ancient universe.
Ethan Bondick 