Since it was launched to space and began its journey, James Webb Space Telescope reached its final destination. In addition to this, the said space telescope is now in a stable location.
James Webb Space Telescope Finally Reaches Its Final Destination!
The Verge reported that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) revolutionary new James Webb Space Telescope executed its final large course adjustment maneuver Thursday afternoon. Through this, the space telescope has placed itself into its final landing spot in space after traveling hundreds of thousands of kilometers over the last month.
Moreover, the newly launched space telescope will now remain in perpetuity at a distance of around 1 million miles from Earth, providing the vehicle with a front-row view of the Universe's oldest stars and galaxies.
The James Webb Space Telescope has had an eventful journey to its final destination.
To further emphasize, it was too big to fly to orbit in its full shape, so it had to launch folded within its rocket. It began an exceedingly complicated routine of shape-shifting and unfurling as it reached space, which is a feat that no other spacecraft has ever attempted.
Despite this complicated journey, it completed all of its key deployments on Jan. 8 and blossomed into its full configuration.
Aside from this, the deployments were also fraught with tension. Since it had to go off without a glitch; one miscalculation could have compromised its entire mission. However, the Webb mission team's concern did not end with the unfolding.
This only means that if the observatory did not slow down correctly today to be exact, the vehicle may end up in the wrong orbit or altogether miss its goal course. A failure of this magnitude may have jeopardized the mission's existence, making communication with the roughly $10 billion space observatory extremely difficult for scientists.
Fortunately, it manuevered perfectly.
James Webb Space Telescope is Now Orbiting Around Earth-Sun Lagrange Point
The James Webb Space Telescope is now orbiting an Earth-Sun Lagrange point, which is an unseen place throughout the space. This is a region where the Sun's and Earth's gravity and centripetal forces are just right, allowing objects to remain in a "stable" location.
For added context, NASA explained that the James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, is a huge infrared telescope with a primary mirror measuring roughly 6.5 meters in diameter.
The said space telescope was launched from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket last Christmas.
Webb will be the world's most powerful telescope in the upcoming years, servicing thousands of astronomers from all over the world. With regards to its mission, it will investigate every developent stage of our universe.
The said investigation will include the first brilliant glows after the Big Bang through the development of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, as well as our own Solar System's evolution.
Webb was previously known as the "Next Generation Space Telescope" (NGST), but it was renamed after former NASA administrator James Webb in September 2002.
Webb is a NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) multinational partnership (CSA). The development project was overseen by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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