The James Webb Space Telescope was launched from French Guyana on the Ariane 5 rocket. This mission is a collaboration amongst the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
Webb is committed to capturing the light from early galaxies, along with studying distant exoplanets and binary systems. “The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “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!”
The telescope harnesses power from its solar array, which unfurled after the seamless launch. Soon, mission control will establish a crucial communications channel with operators in Kenya; after which, Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore will transmit the first commands to Webb.
In the hours ahead, engineers and ground control will begin the mid-course correction burns, steering the telescope to its destination at the L2 Lagrange point, a million miles away from Earth. Over the next six months, Webb will collect light from cosmic bodies light years armed with its Near Infrared Camera.
The mission will revolutionize our understanding of celestial objects by providing unparalleled clarity to outer space. Webb is the largest and most sophisticated space science observatory ever constructed, succeeding the Hubble and Spitzer efforts.
Webb embarks on its 29-day journey of complex deployment sequences. "Webb’s scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been. We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we’ve never before seen or imagined.”, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
With Webb's ability to explore cosmic history—from our solar system to the most distant galaxies—humanity is on the brink of a new era of cosmic enlightenment.
Source: NASA. "NASA's Webb Telescope Launches to See First Galaxies, Distant Worlds". https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-webb-telescope-launches-to-see-first-galaxies-distant-worlds. Dec 25, 2021. [Accessed Dec 25 2021].
Edited by Yash Pincha
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