After months of delays NASA’s $10 million James Webb Space Telescope launched successfully on Christmas Day, after a journey of one million miles into the solar orbit.
Hubble was 30 years old, and the new space telescope will replace it. The 100-meter sensitive instrument is designed to be more powerful and to transform science’s understanding of the universe.
NASA confirmed the successful deployment of the gimbaled antenna assembly following the December 25 launch.
Twitter confirmed it, with the following: “Hello Webb?” It’s us, Earth! The gimbaled antenna assembly was deployed by our team, including Webb’s dish antenna.
This antenna is capable of sending at least 28.6 Gbytes (or more) data to and from the observatory every day, two times per day.
NASA confirms that the successfully deployed gimbaled antenna assembly was successful after its launch on December 25
It took about one hour for the entire procedure to be completed. The antenna was released shortly after 10:00 GMT (December 26 at 15:00 GMT).
NASA also confirmed the successful activation of the strain gauges as well as the temperature sensors at the telescope for the first-ever time.
NASA announced that Webb engineers now have access to strain and temperature data for monitoring Webb’s thermal and structural systems.
On Christmas Day, the telescope was launched in space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. After taking off from French Guiana’s European Spaceport facility, the rocket took off into the sky over the Atlantic Ocean.
As the rocket lifted its boosters, it soared at an altitude 870 miles (1 398 km) before finally releasing the telescope and embarking on its journey.
NASA spokesperson said that Webb would usher in an era of new astronomy with its launch.
Engineers and scientists jubilantly chanted “Go Webb!” After decades of delays and planning, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope successfully lifted off to its 1 million-mile journey into solar orbit.
After an excellent flight through the Earth’s atmosphere into space, James Webb telescope module was released from its body by the Ariane 5 rocket. It had been blasting it upwards. Mission control at Kourou in French Guiana cheered.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary NASA instrument has lifted off successfully to begin its long journey into space. It will replace the Hubble telescope. This is after years of delays and planning.
Pictures from the European Space Agency’s Spaceport facility in French Guiana show the Webb telescope module atop an Ariane 5 rocket blasting off from Earth at 7.20AM ET (12.00PM GMT) on its million-mile journey into solar orbit
At 7.20 am, the most powerful satellite in the world, fitted with Ariane 5 rockets, launched spectacularly over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Ariane 5 rocket’s engines engaged for seven seconds as the spaceship was warmed up. Lift off took place at 7.20 AM ET.
New telescope’s orbital track will ensure that it is always in alignment with Earth, as both the planet and telescope circle each other.
This international collaborative project was launched in 1996 by NASA and the Canadian and European space agencies.
The launch delay of months had caused it to be delayed for several months. This was after years of construction delays. Its first scheduled launch date is set for 2007.
Last year, the launch was rescheduled to Christmas Eve. Then it was moved to December 25 with a window for launch between 07:20 ET (12.20 GMT) and 07.52 ET (12.52 GMT).
The fairing was fitted with an Ariane 5 Rocket and the rocket moved to the French Guiana European Space Agency Facility.
Officials have confirmed that Ariane 5 is in excellent condition and that there was no problem with the launch due to the arrival of rainy season French Guiana.
The James Web Telescope (also known as JWST and Webb) was first started in 1996. NASA only had a 500 million dollar budget at that time to finish it.
Although the agency had been scheduled to launch it in 2007, cost overruns, technical problems and other issues caused a significant redesign that resulted in its first delay.
In 2016, construction of the telescope was finished, allowing for testing. However, two years later, the huge sunshield fell during a practice session. This led to another postponement.
Launch teams watch the countdown towards the Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. This launch will take place on December 25,
The launch pad is home to the huge, next-generation Jame Webb Space Telescope, which has been called a “Christmas miracle” by anxious astronomers.
After years of delays in its construction, the launch of the telescope was delayed for months. The first planned launch date is supposed to have been 2007
The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 created additional delays.
James Webb reached French Guiana in October 2021 following a 16 day sea voyage aboard MN Colibri. The transport container was taken out of the way before the launch preparations.
NASA says that the first fuelling operation began November 25, and took around 10 days.
After the Ariane 5 rocket had been launched on Saturday December 11, the Guiana Space Center placed the space telescope onto the Ariane 5 rocket.
Mother Nature had other plans, and the mission was moved one day later.
The rocket was loaded in the fairing of an Ariane 5 Rocket, which it then moved to the launchpad at the European Space Agency facility, French Guiana.
Because it is so big, NASA says that the origami-style folding was done to make the rocket fit. The rocket then unfurled ‘like Transformers in space’, spreading out its mirrors in order to capture light from far away in the history.
Mark McCaughrean (ESA Webb Interdisciplinary Scientist) has waited for more than 20 year to be able to collect data with Webb.
MailOnline asked him if he was nervous about the rocket’s launch. It had been successfully tested, simulated, and ready to go, and he believed in engineers.
He stated that launch is something to be concerned about, as you might have accidentally launched a costly piece of equipment on an unguided explosion. However, it’s what we do, so the Ariane 5 was a great choice.
Officials have confirmed that Ariane 5 is in excellent condition. However, the launch had to be halted by the beginning of French Guiana’s rainy season.
NASA says it is large enough to be folded origami style to fit into the rocket. It will then unfold ‘like Transformers’ in space and spread its mirrors to gather light from deep within the universe’s history.
Webb, who is years behind in leaving Earth to go to space, will be looking back at the very beginning of time to see when stars and galaxies formed.
Webb is primarily an infrared telescope. It has a greater spectrum than Hubble’s and operates in a more solar orbit. From near Kourou, French Guiana it was launched aboard an Ariane 5 European Space Agency rocket.
Although the launch was successful, many astronomers are looking forward to the “scary” part, which will be when the observatory is in its solar orbit.
Webb will travel to an orbit about one million miles away from Earth and undergo six months of commissioning in space – including unfolding its mirrors and sunshield, cooling down, aligning and calibrating.
NASA states that “astronomers around the world will be then able to perform scientific observations to expand our understanding of this universe.”
This telescope was named in honor of James E. Webb who, from 1961 until 1968, served as NASA’s administrator and also played an important role in the Apollo Program.
NASA’s decision to name the device after him was a controversial one – he has been accused of homophobia since his passing in 1992 due to his role in the 1963 firing of a gay NASA employee.
NASA said that the James Webb Telescope would not be renamed before its December launch, in spite of a petition opposing it.
Webb was 85 years old when he died in 1992. Webb took over from John F. Kennedy’s request in 1961.
He was the head of the agency from 1968 to 1968, and was also instrumental in creating the Apollo programs. These would eventually see Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon the year after he left.
Webb is primarily an infrared telescope. It will be more visible than Hubble, and it will operate farther out from Earth in a solar orbit.
McCaughrean claimed that JWST decreases the ceiling for objects. The telescope is also cold at -230 Celsius, which means it emits less infrared radiation, meaning astronomers do not have to fight the Earth’s infrared.
Webb can take photos ten times sharper and hundreds times more detailed than Hubble’s, but he will also be able to do so with a digital camera.
Hubble can be found at 340 miles from the Earth’s surface. Webb, however, will be more than a million miles away.
The James Web Telescope (also known as JWST and Webb) was first started in 1996. NASA only had a 500 million dollar budget at that time to finish it.
The telescope will observe the Universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared – at wavelengths longer than visible light. It is equipped with a range of high-tech cameras, spectrographs, and coronagraphs to do this.
Ohio State University researchers claim that James Webb will find signs of alien existence on distant planets within five years after it comes online.
Caprice Phillips, a graduate student, calculated that the device could detect ammonia from living organisms around dwarf planets gas after only a few orbits.
James Webb Space Telescope is described as “a time machine” that can help uncover the mysteries of our universe. It emits light from distant objects further back in space and could be used to unravel these secrets.
This telescope can be used for looking back at the very first galaxies that were born more than 13.5billion years ago in the early universe.
Ohio State University’s research suggests that James Webb would have signs of alien existence on distant planets within five year of its online launch
The James Webb separated from the launch vehicle 28 minutes after it was launched and started ‘the most complicated sequence of deployments ever attempted within a single mission to space’
The telescope will be able to observe stars and exoplanets as well as the planets and moons in our solar system.
Many thousands of astronomers have made their futures based upon the Webb telescope’s potential.
Webb could be used by some researchers to see the “cosmic dawn”, which is the moment when first stars are visible in the universe. This event occurred billions years ago.
James Webb’s lifespan is five years. NASA however hopes that it will last a decade. NASA has already seen Hubble outlive its life span by many decades. But unlike Hubble, James Webb cannot be fixed.
The telescope will observe the Universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared – at wavelengths longer than visible light. It is equipped with a range of high-tech cameras, spectrographs, and coronagraphs to do this.
ESA will procure the Ariane 5 rocket and launch services. ESA also contributes the NIRSpec instrument as well as a portion of the MIRI Instrument.
It will take test images, not of any specific object. The camera could even copy Hubble to capture an image of Jupiter and make its first observations.
Exoplanets will receive up to 30% of the initial year’s observations. This is to examine their size, orbit and atmosphere in search for alien life.