Our world is constantly evolving.

The technology is becoming so advanced that it makes our

everyday lives easier and much more comfortable. Engineering plays a crucial role to these
developments, making it a great contributor to the well-being of society. Engineering brought us cars,
trains, boats, and even roads and bridges that allowed us travel with great distances, and even allowed
us to replace huge computers with light-weight smartphones. These technological advancements have
also allowed Engineers to contribute in field of Medicine. Engineers are capable of developing new
gadgets or machines that can help people monitor and improve their health and these would not be
possible without Engineering. Technological advancement is now progressing at the fastest rate and
with this, engineering also helped humans to understand the space and the universe that we live in.
The National Aeronautics and Space Act was signed into law in 1958 and is intended in studying
the Earth, as well as exploring the space. They were able to construct rockets and different spacecraft
which are integral part for space exploration. Through these spacecraft, numerous telescopes have been
sent above Earth’s atmosphere. Telescopes opened our eyes to the universe and allowed us to dig
deeper into outer space. One of the powerful telescopes got launched in space is the Hubble Space
Telescope. This telescope is capable of telling the size, temperature and even texture of a planet and
even provided evidence of billions of galaxies. Since the universe is constantly expanding, this telescope
also helped determine the rate at which the universe is expanding. This really helped us to learn and
discover new things about the universe that we live in.
Recently, the largest and most powerful telescope ever built, which is the James Webb
telescope successfully launched into space. As someone who really has fascination about the universe
and space, I’m really excited about the discoveries it will make in the future. This telescope is 100 times
more powerful than the Hubble Space telescope. The James Webb telescope has the capability to look
in the infrared range, while Hubble Space telescope is only limited to optical and ultraviolet
wavelengths. Thus, James Webb telescope is able to capture images of the first galaxies ever formed in
the universe, 250 million years after the Big bang. It took them 30 years to fully construct this telescope,
and that tells a lot about how insane and intricate the engineering of this telescope was. The telescope
needs to be folded in order to fit inside the rocket and must be unfolded once it reached the space.
Recently, NASA researchers confirmed that the telescope is completely unfolded and was able to detect
its first photons. It is insane to think how engineering had come this far. This will really help us to answer
the question that we are very curious about: “Are we alone in the universe?".

REFERENCES:

Margetta, R. (2022, January 12). NASA’s Webb Telescope Reaches Major Milestone as Mirror

Unfolds. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-telescope-reaches-

major-milestone-as-mirror-unfolds/

Rayl, A. J. S. (n.d.). NASA Engineers and Scientists-Transforming Dreams Into Reality. NASA.

https://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/scientists.html