Hubble Telescope’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, being built in Maryland – Fox Baltimore

The most advanced space telescope in the world --and beyond -- is being built in our own backyard. (Photo courtesy NASA)

BALTIMORE (WBFF) -- The most advanced space telescope in the world --and beyond -- is being built in our own backyard.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), is slated for launch from French Guiana in October of 2018.

Dr. John Mather is the Senior Project Scientist and is one of thousands working on the infrared telescope, which will be a successor to the Hubble Telescope.

The technology is undergoing extensive tests to ensure it will survive the launch.

When this telescope is a million miles away there's no way to fix it, so potential problems are solved at Goddard's facility in Maryland.

"We have the capability here and we might be the only place in the entire universe that can do this," Dr. Mather said. "We are certainly the only place in NASA that can lead this project."

Next, parts will ship to California where the observatory is being built but once the telescope is in space, it will be monitored right from Baltimore.

"The operations of the observatory are going to be in Baltimore," Dr. Mather said. "At the Space Telescope Science Institute where they also run the operations for the Hubble Telescope."

Scientists are eagerly awaiting the launch. There's no telling what the findings will reveal about the universe.

"We think we will be able to see the first galaxies being born,the first black holes being born," Dr. Mather said, adding, "if we guess right about how they actually do. How the galaxies grow."

He is confident about the team in place preparing the advanced technology for its deep space mission.

"We have a wonderful team here," Dr. Mather said. "The engineers are are some of the best I've met. They make things happen you could only wish for. Eventually we will point the telescope at the sky and discover things you've never knew about."

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Hubble Telescope's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, being built in Maryland - Fox Baltimore