This past Christmas morning 2021 NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope from Arianespace's ELA-3 launch complex at European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana. JWST blasted off aboard the Ariane 5 rocket, one of the world's most reliable launch vehicles. Over the next 160 days it will fly away from the earth to a total distance of approximately 1 million miles.
The 29 days following liftoff will be an exciting but harrowing time. Thousands of parts must work correctly, in sequence, to unfold Webb and put it in its final configuration, all while it flies through the expanse of space alone, to a destination nearly one million miles away. Said NASA.
Here’s a NASA YouTube Video showing this sequence. JWST Video
Here’s the rocket and what the observatory looked like when folded up inside the fairing aboard the rocket before its launch.
Here is the final obit will; the JWST Observatory will look out into the universe to collect its scientific data. Notice how much farther out in space it is than where Hubble was.
Here’s a really neat NASA Fact Sheet about the telescope.
This slide from NASA shows the two sides of the telescope.
It will take approximately 160 days from launch until the final deployment and calibrations of the telescope are completed. The JWST will start sending the first science images back to earth.
Here’s the NASA page dedicated to the James Webb Space Telescope: JWST Site
Right now, the telescope looks like the picture below. You’ll notice that the solar arrays have been deployed to provide power to the instruments. Also, the High Gain Antenna (HGA) has been deployed so that NASA can communicate and send commands to the spacecraft to tweak its trajectory as it flies out into space.
Image Credits: NASA.Gov.
Until next time.
Take care!