Unfold the Universe is a limited time event which focuses on the James Webb Telescope. It features 6 generators and 35 upgrades that produce Honeycomb Mirrors 
as their currency.
Story[]
Opening[]
"What is it about the sky that excites so much curiosity in humans? What do they hope to see up there?"
Ending[]
"When united by a common goal, humanity is capable of great accomplishments. Missions like the James Webb Space Telescope enable the human spirit of curiosity to reach ever farther into the cosmos."
Objectives & Rewards[]
The requirements that have to be completed in order to get all rewards.
Explore James Webb Telescope (9 Requirements)
- Collect 25 Ground Telescope →
5 - Collect Naming → 6
- Collect Development → James Webb Space Telescope Badge
- Collect Galactic Birth → 7
- Collect Construction → 8
- Collect Launch → Christmas Launch Badge
- Collect Hexagonal Mirrors → 10
- Collect Sunshield Unfolding → 14
- Collect First Images → Mirror Array Badge
Badges[]
This exploration holds some rewards already mentioned above. The main ones being these three badges: Bronze: James Webb Space Telescope, Silver: Christmas Launch and Gold: Mirror Array which have an effect on all other evolutionary branches, speeding up every simulation by 1%, and also speeding up production in future Unfold the Universe simulations by 5, 10 and 15% respectively.
James Webb Space Telescope[]
"The latest and greatest space telescope has the goal of photographing parts of the universe previously unseen by human beings."
Christmas Launch[]
"Heavily anticipated and anxiously awaited, the Christmas Day launch of the Webb Telescope went off without a hitch."
Mirror Array[]
"The Webb Telescope's most striking feature, this set of many gold-plated mirrors reflect the Sun's light and enable us to photograph new corners of the universe."
Generators[]
The Unfold the Universe event features six generators which produce the event currency Honeycomb Mirrors .
Honeycomb Mirrors[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Base Cost | Base Production | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ground Telescope | The earliest stargazers made their observations with nothing but the naked eye. Magnifying telescopes opened up whole new vistas - from simple handheld spyglasses to mountaintop observatories that can detect wavelengths invisible to humans. | 15
|
1/sec
|
Look to the Stars |
|
Hubble Telescope | At its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope, named for astronomer Edwin Hubble, was the most powerful telescope ever built. Still in use today, it gave us some of the most iconic images of faraway galaxies and spectacular nebulas. | 2,500
|
16/sec
|
Space Telescope |
|
James Webb Telescope | The Next Generation Space Telescope project gave birth to the James Webb Space Telescope, one of the most ambitious feats of astronomical engineering ever laid by Hubble, it introduced Manu significant innovations. | 50,000
|
160/sec
|
Hubble's Successor |
|
Development | It took 25 years to complete the James Webb telescope, from its conception in 1996 to launch in 2021. Many new technologies needed to be invented along the way. An incredibly ambitious undertaking, it took vast amounts of money, labor, and time to get the job done. | 6.00 E7
|
16,000/sec
|
Mission Objectives |
|
Construction | The James Webb Telescope is one of a kind. A host of innovations, like its infrared imaging and unique folding design, make it the most powerful telescope ever built. | 2.50 E10
|
2.40 E6/sec
|
Funding |
|
Launch | The James Webb Telescope's nail-biting launch from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana was only the start of its journey. After the drama of liftoff, Webb settled in for a long commute to its destination and the careful process of unfolding in preperation for work. | 1.20 E11
|
2.00 E7/sec
|
Delayed Launch Infrared Visibility |
Upgrades[]
Miscellaneous Effects[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Effect | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Look to the Stars | We have always looked to the stars with wonder. Curiosity about the cosmos inspires astounding feats of human ingenuity and collaboration, as we strive to see farther and better than ever before. | 10
|
- | - |
Ground Telescope Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Space Telescope | Ground-based observatories have to contend with air and light pollution, satellites and orbital junk, and the atmosphere itself muddying the view. Rising above it all, telescopes in space get a much clearer picture. | 150
|
100% | Ground Telescope |
|
Origins | In 1946, astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer made the first proposals for a telescope in space. He later collaborated with astronomer Nancy Grace Roman to develop the Hubble Space Telescope. | 700
|
100% | Space Telescope |
Hubble Telescope Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Repair Mission | A flaw in Hubble's main mirror meant it can't resolve images properly at launch. After three years of fuzzy photos, NASA sent a crew to perform delicate orbital repairs in 1993. Four other manned missions have since visited to serivce the telescope. | 10,000
|
100% | Hubble Telescope |
|
Landmark Discoveries | Hubble's observations have yielded many breakthroughs in astrophysics. They revealed new celestial objects, located black holes at the centers of galaxies, and helped determine the age of the universe. | 20,000
|
50% | Repair Mission |
|
Hubble's Successor | As Hubble grew older, astronomers recognized the need for a newer, more high-tech successor. In 1996, The Next Generation Space Telescope project was concieved. It would be bigger, more powerful, and more advanced than its predecessor. | 50,000
|
50% | Landmark Discoveries |
|
Distance From Earth | Unlike Hubble, Webb won't orbit Earth - instead, it will orbit the Sun, 1.5 million km from home. This meant the launch had to go exactly as planned, since repairs will be impossible once the telescope is in space. | 500,000
|
200% | Landmark Discoveries |
|
Size Comparison | The Webb Telescope boasts a primary mirror over six times the size of Hubble's. Yet thanks to the advances in material science over the intervening decades, it comes in at only half the mass. | 7.00 E6
|
200% | Distance From Earth |
James Webb Telescope Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
James E. Webb | James E. Webb was NASA's administrator from 1961-1968 and oversaw the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. He used his many political connections to successfully lobby for funding, resources, and support for the space program. | 200,000
|
100% | James Webb Telescope |
|
Naming | Originally known as the Next Generation Space Telescope, the project was renamed to honor James E. Webb in 2002. Webb's leadership helped establish scientific research and innovation as core goals of NASA. | 3.00 E6
|
100% | James E. Webb |
|
Mission Objectives | Originally known as the Next Generation Space Telescope, the project was renamed to honor James E. Webb in 2002. Webb's leadership helped establish scientific research and innovation as core goals of NASA. | 3.00 E7
|
100% | James Webb Telescope |
|
Mission Length | Webb's mission is planned for at least five years, though it may be able to continue making observations for up to 10 years. It carries enough propellant to last 20 years in orbit, raising hopes for an active retirement. | 7.50 E7
|
150% | Mission Objectives |
|
Cleared Name | Concerns were raised implicating James Webb in the Lavender Scare, a discriminatory purging of LGBT+ federal employees in the 1950s. When an investigation turned up no evidence of his direct involvement, NASA chose not to remove his name from the project. | 4.00 E8
|
250% | Naming |
|
International Collaboration | The Webb Telescope wasn't created by NASA alone. The European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency both contributed funding, equipment, and launch facilities for the mission. | 2.50 E9
|
200% | James Webb Telescope |
|
Budget | Initially budgeted at $1 billion, Webb's final price tag was a whopping $9.7 billion. Rigorous testing requirements and the need to keep up with advancing technology ticked up the cost over time. | 6.00 E9
|
100% | James Webb Telescope Development |
|
Ground Support | Ground support for the Webb mission will be provided by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The lab will distribute data gathered by the telescope and accept observation proposals from all over the world. | 4.00 E12
|
100000% | Launch International Collaboration |
Development Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Black Holes | Black holes are one of the great enigmas of the cosmos. The Webb Telescope will turn its gaze on the center of the Milky Way, where the enormous black hole Sagittarius A* lies. Astronomers hope that Webb's advanced imaging abilities can begin to reveal its secrets. | 2.00 E8
|
100% | Development |
|
Galactic Birth | Webb will study events from early in the universe's history, when the first galaxies took shape. Astronomers have warring theories about how this happened, and Webb's discoveries may finally put the debate to rest. | 1.20 E9
|
100% | Black Holes |
|
Funding | Space missions have a history of going over budget. Costs are tough to predict for a unique, never-before-seen piece of equipment, and technological progress rarely comes cheap. | 1.50 E10
|
200% | Development Budget |
|
Seeking Exoplanets | One of Webb's aims is to discover new planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets. These alien biomes can teach us about how planets form - and we might even find worlds that resemble our own. | 2.0 E10
|
100% | Galactic Birth |
|
Averted Cancellation | The U.S. House of Representatives nearly cancelled development on the project in 2011, but backtracked after an international outcry. They settled for capping the budget at $8.8 billion, which was promptly exceeded by nearly $2 billion. | 5.00 E10
|
100% | Funding |
|
Delayed Launch | Webb's launch was delayed many times. Setbacks included a tear in the sunshield during a test launch, a significant redesign in 2005, and the Covid-19 pandemic. | 1.20 E11
|
100% | Averted Cancellation |
Construction Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Infrared Visibility | The Webb Telescope doesn't use visible light - instead, it collects light at longer wavelengths in the infrared range. This lets it see objects dating back to the birth of the universe, 100x fainter than those observed by Hubble. | 3.00 E10
|
50% | Construction |
|
Micro Shutters | The Webb Telescope has a much wider field of view than any of its predecessors. Instead of focusing on one thing at a time, a new micro-shutter technology developed just for Webb lets it observe hundreds of objects at once, without repositioning. | 9.00 E10
|
100% | Construction |
|
Dangerous Heat | The Webb Telescope needs to be kept extremely cold, or its own heat would overwhelm the sensitive infrared detectors. A huge, kite-shaped shield blocks out the sun's rays and keeps the telescope at a chilly 50 Kelvin. | 2.50 E11
|
50% | Infrared Visibility |
|
Sunshield | Webb's tennis court-sized [sic] sunshield is a critical part of the mission. Each of the shield's five layers is made from aluminum and silicon-coated polyamide film and is as thin as a human hair. | 5.00 E11
|
50% | Dangerous Heat |
|
Hexagonal Mirrors | Webb's impressive primary mirror spans 6.5 m in diameter. An array of 18 smaller hexagons made of gold-plated beryllium, it resembles a shiny golden honeycomb. | 1.50 E12
|
150% | Micro Shutters |
Launch Efficiency[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Cost | Efficiency | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Christmas Launch | The Webb Telescope was originally planned to launch in 2007, but successive delays postponed it until December 25, 2021. The much anticipated, high-stakes Christmas Day launch was ultimately a success: NASA described it as "flawless". | 1.00 E12
|
100% | Launch |
|
Journey to L2 | The James Webb Telescope will orbit 1.5 million km away from Earth, at Lagrange Point 2. Lagrange points are spots where the forces of gravity from two bodies, in this case the Earth and the Sun, are perfectly balanced. Here the telescope can hold steady relative to Earth. | 2.50 E12
|
200% | Christmas Launch |
|
Sunshield Unfolding | It took 13 days for the Webb Telescope to unfurl completely, a complex dance with many steps. The unfolding of the sunshield was a particulaly tense moment, as there were problems with this phase in testing. Fortunately, it went off without a hitch. | 1.20 E13
|
100% | Journey to L2 Sunshield |
|
Mirrors Unfolding | The Webb Telescope's mirror would have been too large to fit on any current launch vehicle in one piece, so its compact design uses smaller mirrors that unfold and fit together in space. Tiny mechanical motors shift minutely to perfectly focus each mirror segment. | 2.00 E13
|
100% | Sunshield Unfolding Hexagonal Mirrors |
|
Secondary Mirrors | With the sunshield in place, the next step in Webb's deployment was unfolding the secondary mirror. This mirror, which sits behind the primary mirror, helps focus light and deliver a clearer image. | 4.00 E13
|
200% | Mirrors Unfolding |
|
Primary Mirrors | The gold mirrors of the Optical Telescope Element collect light from far-off stars and galaxies. The bigger the mirrors, the more light they reflect, and the more detail the telescope can observe - and Webb's 6.5-meter array is one of the largest ever. | 9.00 E13
|
200% | Mirrors Unfolding |
|
Warm-Up Period | After settling in position, Webb won't start taking pictures right away. It needs at least five months to cool down enough for the infrared imaging to function. In the meantime, testing and calibration will keep the telescope busy. | 3.00 E14
|
300% | Primary Mirrors Secondary Mirrors |
|
First Images | On July 11th 2022, NASA and U.S. President Joe Biden presented the first ever James Webb Telescope image to the public. It was the deepest and most detailed picture of our universe to date, showcasing the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. Truly a sight to behold! | 1.00 E15
|
100% | Warm-Up Period |
Tech Tree[]
|
Trivia[]
- This event is one of several to be modified after its public release, with the First Images upgrade getting a new description.
- The upgrade “Seeking Exoplanets” depicts an image of Janssen, which was later added to the Beyond in Episode 20: Strange Worlds.
- The upgrade “Landmark Discoveries” depicts an image of Pillars of Creation, which was later added to the Beyond in Episode 24: Rock the Cosmic Cradle.
- On December 1st, 2023 at 15:00 UTC, in honor of Pioneer 10's 50th anniversary to its closest approach to Jupiter, the James Webb Telescope Exploration have return to all simulations until Dec 6, 2023 at 15:00 UTC.
- The direct upgrade line linking from Look to the Stars to First Images are highlighted, being the first event of its kind to do this.
Gallery[]
Announcement for the "Unfold the Universe" Event
Announcement for the first "Unfold the Universe" Event Rerun
Announcement for the second "Unfold the Universe" Event Rerun
.png "Unfold the Universe (Event).png (270 KB)")
The first and former banner for the event
Current version of event requirements (Logits)
The first and former requirements for the objective of the event (Darwinium)
.png "James Webb Telescope (Space Garden).png (104 KB)")
The James Webb Telescope Artifact in the Space Garden
Former badges
| Explorations and Events | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 |  James Webb Telescope •  Fungi •  Philosophy •  Mass Extinction •  Money •  Pollination
|
| Season 2 |  Deep Sea Life •  Tea •  Music •  Human Body •  Visual Art •  Outbreaks •  Cats •  Rocks •  Cryptids
|
| Special Events |  A Dodo Ghost Hunt •  Augmentations Console
|