There's a new telescope on the horizon -- and it's huge.
NASA is planning to launch the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFIRST, in the mid-2020s. The telescope has a primary mirror that is 7.9 feet in diameter and will offer a view of the sky that is 100 times larger than what the Hubble Space Telescope provides.
The space agency released the new video above on Thursday to detail its ambitious plans for the telescope, which is meant to discover new exoplanets, unlock the secrets of dark energy and shed new light on the evolution of the cosmos.
"Telescopes generally come into two different flavors," Jason Kalirai, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, says in the video. "You have really powerful, big telescopes, but those telescopes see a tiny part of the sky. Or telescopes are smaller, and so they lack that power, but they can see big parts of the sky. WFIRST is the best of both worlds."
NASA officials had not been expecting to go forward with WFIRST mission plans until 2017 at the earliest, Science magazine reported. But since the agency's Program Management Council decided to move ahead on Wednesday, officials can now start creating a formal schedule for the six-year mission, which is estimated to cost between $2 billion to $2.3 billion, according to Space.com. WFIRST is currently headquartered at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
"WFIRST has the potential to open our eyes to the wonders of the universe, much the same way Hubble has," John Grunsfeld, an astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a statement.
Also on HuffPost:
Extremely Large Telescopes
Giant Magellan Telescope -- Chile
The Giant Magellan Telescope is being constructed in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe.
The GMT aims to discover Earth-like planets around nearby stars and the tiny distortions that black holes cause in the light from distant stars and galaxies. It will reveal the faintest objects ever seen in space, including distant and ancient galaxies, the light from which has been traveling to Earth since shortly after the Big Bang -- 13.8 billion years ago.
It is expected to begin operations in 2021.
Courtesy of Giant Magellan Telescope Organization
Giant Magellan Telescope -- Chile
The Giant Magellan Telescope is being constructed in the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and promises to revolutionize our view and understanding of the universe.
The GMT aims to discover Earth-like planets around nearby stars and the tiny distortions that black holes cause in the light from distant stars and galaxies. It will reveal the faintest objects ever seen in space, including distant and ancient galaxies, the light from which has been traveling to Earth since shortly after the Big Bang -- 13.8 billion years ago.
It is expected to begin operations in 2021.
Courtesy of Giant Magellan Telescope Organization
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Thirty Meter Telescope -- Hawaii
When complete, the Thirty Meter Telescope will become the most advanced and powerful optical telescope on Earth.
It will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way, neighboring galaxies and galaxies that formed at the very edge of the observable universe near the beginning of time.
Ongoing protests have stalled construction of the $1.4 billion project for several months, but it is expected to resume this month.
Courtesy TMT International Observatory
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European Extremely Large Telescope -- Chile
The European Extremely Large Telescope will be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world and will gather 13 times more light than the largest optical telescopes existing today. It will be able to correct for the atmospheric distortions from the start, providing images 16 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The E-ELT has a 39-meter main mirror and is planned to start operations in 2024.
Courtesy of European Southern Observatory
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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope is a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror and the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
It will be launched from French Guiana in October of 2018 and serve as NASA's premier observatory for the next decade. It will study every phase in the history of our universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system.
NASA/Chris Gunn
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