This is the Guardian. In just under two weeks time, if all goes to plan, 7.5 billion pounds worth of scientific equipment is going to be launched into space.

Sat folded up inside the European Arian 5 rocket will be the James Webb Space Telescope.

Web is the world's largest and most advanced space science observatory and it really is a

beast, the main mirror around 21 feet and the sun shield about the size of a tennis court.

It's taken 30 years to build and has been described as one of the grand scientific

endeavors of the 21st century.

As it travels to its final destination,

a point about 1 million miles away. It will begin to unfold its gold

honeycombed mirror, a vast light-catching bucket. Light Catching Bucket

The James Webb Space Telescope is the

Instrument right that every single astronomer is excited for. We're on TED Talks.

We've been planning what observations we're going to make with it for years,

decades even for some people,

because it is set to revolutionize nearly every single field of astrophysics.

As you can imagine, it's very exciting.

But for the scientists and engineers who made the telescope, it's up there a million miles away, if it doesn't work, no one will be able to reach it.

And that means no fixes.

But if it does work, it could give us a view of the universe

deeper and more sensitive than we've ever had before, taking us right back to the very first

stars that flickered into being around 13.5 billion years ago.

And it could reveal clues about life on other planets.

Say what you want about. about life on other planets.

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