'Super Hubble' is almost ready! World's biggest space telescope that could spot alien life passes key tests ahead of ...

The largest space telescope ever built has passed more milestone tests ahead of its 2018 launch.

The James Webb Telescope, nicknamed 'Super Hubble', is the most advanced space observatory in the world and will allow astronomers to peer 13.5 billion years back in time.

It is designed to unravel some of the greatest mysteries of the universe, from discovering the first stars and galaxies that formed after the big bang to studying the atmospheres of planets around other stars.

Now, Nasa has completed its first end-to-end communication between the telescope and its mission operations centre.

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Nasa's James Webb Telescope has completed its first end-to-end communication between the telescope and its mission operations centre (artist's impression pictured)

THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE

The James Webb telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe.

The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system.

The telescope is be 100 times more potent than its predecessor, Hubble, and three times larger. For this reason, it has been nicknamed 'Super Hubble'.

When it is launched in 2018, it will be the world's biggest and most powerful telescope, capable of peering back 200 million years after the Big Bang.

The team verified the telescope was recording and transmitting properly to the spacecraft bus, which is currently located at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California.

These communications are required to support its launch and then operate it once it's in orbit.

The telescope is 100 times more potent than its predecessor, Hubble, and three times larger.

For this reason, it has been nicknamed 'Super Hubble'.

Alan Johns, operations manager for the Webb telescope at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre, said: 'This was the first time all the different parts worked together at the same time, and this was the first time it was tested against the actual spacecraft flight hardware.'

Scott Willoughby, Northrop Grumman vice president and program manager for the Webb telescope, added: 'This is a great milestone not only for the telescope but for the industry team, who worked seamlessly together from coast to coast to successfully complete the GSEG-1.

'This test puts us one step closer in preparing the Webb telescope for launch.'

Nasa describes the telescope as a 'powerful time machine with infrared vision that will peer back over 13.5 billion years to see the first stars and galaxies forming out of the darkness of the early universe.'

The ground segment test consisted of two parts—the Space Network (SN) portion and the Deep Space Network (DSN) portion.

The DSN comprises three ground stations, located about 120 longitudinal degrees apart from each other on Earth - one each in Canberra, Madrid, and Goldstone.

The placement of these guarantees the Webb telescope will be able to contact at least one station at all times, to remain in constant communication with Earth.

For this test, the telescope communicated with a specially designed trailer that mimics these ground stations, rather than the ground stations themselves.

The Deep Space Network comprises three ground stations located about 120 degrees apart on Earth. This photo shows an antenna at the DSN site in California which will keep track of the telescope when it launches at the end of 2018

The James Webb Space Telescope which has a vast golden mirror (pictured) is the largest space telescope ever constructed. When it is launched into space it will be able to peer back in time 13.5 billion years, teaching us more than ever before about the start of the universe

Another communications test will take place at the telescope's planned launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, about a month before launch in late 2018.

This test will demonstrate the expected connectivity with the telescope at first contact with it, which will occur approximately three-and-a-half minutes after launch.

At the end of March, the telescope was mounted on a system known as a shaker table, to simulate the vibration that will happen during launch on the Ariane V rocket.

In March the telescope completed critical acoustic and vibration tests in a major step toward readying the craft for spaceflight. These tests at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center simulated the shaking and 'ear-splitting noise' the telescope will experience during launch

WE COULD FIND ALIEN LIFE IN THE NEXT 10-20 YEARS

There at least 200 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy – and now Nasa officials claim we could be on the verge of finding life on one of them.

During a talk in Washington earlier this year, the space agency announced that humanity is likely to encounter extra-terrestrials within a decade.

'I believe we are going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth in the next decade and definitive evidence in the next 10 to 20 years,' Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for Nasa, said.

'We know where to look, we know how to look, and in most cases we have the technology.'

Jeffery Newmark, interim director of heliophysics at the agency, added: 'It's definitely not an if, it's a when.'

'We are not talking about little green men,' said Stofan. 'We are talking about little microbes.'

The announcement has been prompted by the recent discovery of water by Nasa in surprising places.

Jim Green, director of planetary science at Nasa, noted that a recent study of the Martian atmosphere found 50 per cent of the planet's northern hemisphere once had oceans a mile deep.

In the test, it was subjected to vibrations ranging from 5 to 100 times per second.

Then, in the acoustic test, the researchers wrapped it in a clean tent and pushed it into the Acoustic Test Chamber, which is closed off by insulated steel doors that are nearly a foot thick.

Once in the chamber, it was exposed to ear-splitting noise and resulting vibration.

Eventually, it will be sent to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in California for final assembly and testing prior to launch, which is set to take place from French Guiana in 2018.

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