Interesting news items!
- James Webb telescope fully focused
- If we make contact with aliens, how will religion be affected?
- Watch NASA roll mega Artemis I moon rocket out to the launchpad
James Webb: ‘Fully focused’ telescope beats expectations
Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmoson Twitter
The American space agency has achieved a major milestone in its preparation of the new James Webb Space Telescope.
Engineers say they have now managed to fully focus the $10bn observatory on a test star. The pin-sharp performance is even better than hoped, they add.
If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react?
In 2014, NASA awarded $1.1M to the Center for Theological Inquiry, an ecumenical research institute in New Jersey, to study “the societal implications of astrobiology”.
Some were enraged. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which promotes the division between Church and state, asked NASA to revoke the grant, and threatened to sue if NASA didn’t comply. While the FFR stated that their concern was the commingling of government and religious organisations, they also made it clear that they thought the grant was a waste of money. “Science should not concern itself with how its progress will impact faith-based beliefs.”
The FFR’s argument might well be undermined, however, when the day comes that humanity has to respond to the discovery of aliens. Such a discovery would raise a series of questions that would exceed the bounds of science. For example, when we ask, “What is life?” are we asking a scientific question or a theological one? Questions about life’s origins and its future are complicated, and must be explored holistically, across disciplines. And that includes the way we respond to the discovery of aliens. READ MORE
Watch NASA roll mega Artemis I moon rocket out to the launchpad
(CNN)The Artemis I mission is another step closer to its lunar launch.
