The James Webb Space Telescope – NASA’s successor to the world-famous Hubble Telescope – began its journey on Saturday (Dec. 25, 2021) to its “L2” home, about one million miles from Earth. The trip is expected to take one month.
(James Webb, who headed NASA during the 1960s as the agency was moving towards a human moon landing, was a champion of space science as well as a leader in human spaceflight.)
A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb observatory is NASA’s revolutionary flagship mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets.
The $10 billion telescope was successfully launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana at 7:20 am EST on an Ariane 5 rocket, with separation taking place on time 33 minutes later.
After shedding its fairing and booster rocket, the first two deployments were ‘automatic,’ meaning they took place without the ground giving commands. Once the solar panel was deployed, battery power ended and the telescope began generating its own power, NASA said on its website.
Check out the latest data on the James Webb Telescope by clicking here.
In a tweet, Ariane CEO Stéphane Israël congratulated “the amazing teams” from Ariane Space, NASA, ESA, CSA ASC, Northrop Grumman, Ariane Group and Europe Space Port for “their dedication.”
Live updates on the progress of the mission are available by clicking here.
NASA chief Bill Nelson said “It’s a great day for planet Earth,” after the launch. “We are going to discover incredible things that we never imagined. . .The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it’s what we don’t yet understand or can’t yet fathom about our universe. I can’t wait to see what it uncovers!”
Merry Christmas! We got you a new telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope launched today, beginning a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past. Follow and join the quest to : https://t.co/TlYpoUHdJu pic.twitter.com/ilwWPuIJun
— NASA (@NASA)
The world’s largest and most complex space science observatory will now begin six months of commissioning in space. At the end of commissioning, Webb will deliver its first images.
Webb carries four state-of-the-art science instruments with highly sensitive infrared detectors of unprecedented resolution.
The massive telescope, equipped with gold-covered mirrors, will study infrared light from celestial objects with much greater clarity than ever before. Its mission is the scientific successor to NASA’s iconic Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, built to complement and further the scientific discoveries of these and other missions.
“The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment – this is just the beginning for the Webb mission,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters.
“Now we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.”