Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth, according to NASA. (NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
(Picture: AP)Nasa released the first photos from the James Webb space telescope this week, which captured distant galaxies as they were billions of years ago.
The infrared telescope, which cost $9 billion, is expected to revolutionise astronomy by allowing scientists to see even deeper into space, with greater clarity than ever before.
Nasa said that, by using the James Webb space telescope, “researchers will soon begin to learn more about the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions, as Webb seeks the earliest galaxies in the universe.”
But the James Webb space telescope has been controversial since it was announced, as many people in the space community have taken issue with its namesake.
So who is James Webb and why was he controversial?
Who was James Webb?
James E. Webb, born in 1906, was an American government official, who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 until 1952, in the Truman administration.
Webb was then the administrator of Nasa from February 1961 to October 1968, and the space agency says he “did more for science than perhaps any other government official and that it is only fitting that the Next Generation Space Telescope would be named after him.”
Webb’s work resulted in a decade of space science research that “remains unparalleled today,” according to Nasa.
He invested in the development of robotic spacecraft and sent scientific probes to Mars and Venus, among other efforts, like giving scientists greater control in the selection process of science missions and creating the NASA University Program.
Why was the space telescope named after James Webb?
When NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe announced the new name for the next-generation space telescope, he said: "It is fitting that Hubble’s successor be named in honour of James Webb.
“Thanks to his efforts, we got our first glimpses at the dramatic landscape of outer space. He took our nation on its first voyages of exploration, turning our imagination into reality. Indeed, he laid the foundations at NASA for one of the most successful periods of astronomical discovery.
“As a result, we’re rewriting the textbooks today with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the James Webb Telescope."
Why is James Webb controversial?
The naming of the James Webb space telescope sparked a backlash in the space community because it is alleged that he took part in discriminating against LGBTQ+ people while at Nasa.
A 2021 Scientific American article said it was “unfortunate” that the telescope would carry “the name of a man whose legacy at best is complicated and at worst reflects complicity in homophobic discrimination in the federal government.”
In the mid-1900s, there was a moral panic around homosexuality within the US government, known today as “The Lavender Scare.” During this time, LGBTQ+ people within the government were discriminated against and fired or forced to resign.
Historian David K. Johnson wrote that the policy was based on the unfounded fear that LGBTQ+ people “posed a threat to national security because they were vulnerable to blackmail and were considered to have weak moral characters.”
It is thought that Webb was aware of this policy during the 1950s, and when he began working at Nasa in 1961, it is alleged that he was complicit in the discrimination.
When the James Webb space telescope name was announced, thousands of scientists signed a petition demanding to rename it stating that, "those who would excuse Webb’s failure of leadership, cannot simultaneously award him credit for his management of Apollo."
The Scientific American article, written by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Sarah Tuttle, Lucianne Walkowicz, and Brian Nord, argues that: “While appreciation and nostalgia are important, they are not sufficient.
“Webb might have played a positive role at Nasa, but his greater legacy beyond the agency is also relevant. Now that we know of Webb’s silence at State and his actions at Nasa, we think it is time to rename JWST.
“The name of such an important mission, which promises to live in the popular and scientific psyche for decades, should be a reflection of our highest values.”
