the next space telescope

Have a look at the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST for short. This is the telescope that is going to replace the Hubble Space Telescope in a few short years. Hubble isn't done yet, and if NASA manages to find enough money for one more shuttle servicing mission before the fleet is retired, Hubble should last us another 3 or 4 years. Of course, that is provided the aging components hold out (Hubble has been orbiting the Earth for 16 years). If component failure doesn't finish Hubble, a decaying orbit eventually will. The Earth's atmosphere slowly drags Hubble into a steadily lower orbit with each passing year. Without shuttle servicing to bump the orbit higher, the telescope will eventually burn up in the atmosphere. The JWST is the next generation space telescope that will carry on where Hubble leaves off. As you might expect, the JWST will be a substantially more advanced telescope than Hubble. JWST will boast a primary mirror about 6 times the size of the mirror on Hubble. The mirror itself is a honeycomb design made of light weight beryllium hexagons as opposed to the single mirror of Hubble. Unlike Hubble, JWST will be looking so deep into space that it is no longer advantageous to work in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The light from such vast distances has lost energy such that the photons now reside in the infrared portion of the spectrum. As a result, JWST will be particularly sensitive to infrared wavelengths. The telescope will orbit beyond the moon in a special gravitational "well" formed from the interaction of the sun, moon, and Earth that will allow it to collect images continuously. Finally, JWST will have a sunshade the size of a tennis court that will protect the sensitive detectors from the sun and assist in cooling the detectors as well. You might wonder how a mirror 6 times the size of Hubble and a sunshade the size of a tennis court can possibly be launched from Earth? JWST will effectively construct itself upon reaching orbit, aligning the hexagonal mirror components and unfurling the sunshade. Truly amazing stuff. JWST is currently slated for a 2013 launch. In case you are wondering who James Webb is, he was the second administrator of NASA and in many ways his stewardship ensured the success of the Apollo program.