NASA researches to build a telescope 10-100 times larger than the current one

The photo shows the final stage of a future giant telescope that could be created using liquids

Physically, for a telescope’s field of view, size is the deciding factor. The larger the telescope, the greater the ability to gather light, thereby allowing scientists to observe distant objects in detail. In other words, the larger the telescope, the clearer and more specific the view will be.

However, the large size, the installation time as well as the cost will also be large. In fact, NASA spent 10 billion USD for the James Webb telescope (JWST), which is approximately the size of a tennis court (21.18m x 14.17m). Not to mention transporting into space to conduct observations.

With a liquid-based telescope, NASA hopes to solve this problem, as it reduces installation and fabrication times, as well as helps astronomers observe objects in space in more detail. .

Edward Balaban, the project’s scientist, explains: “In the range of gravity, liquids have a useful shape for making lenses and mirrors. If we were to create them in space, they could be used to make telescopes significantly larger than those of the past”.

As for the fabrication time, the NASA website states: “The liquid lensing process allows for complete bypass of mechanical processes such as grinding or polishing. This means that the telescope is made of the liquid takes only a short time to fabricate and perfect.”

According to Edward Balaban, if the experiment is successful, it will be history in terms of optics and lensing as it helps astronomers see farther than JWST, the most modern telescope available today. 930,000 miles (more than 1.4 million km).