Arianespace, Nasa, and the European Space Agency (Esa) have announced that the James Webb space telescopes launch date is 18 Dec. It will be launched from Europe's spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) on an Ariane 5 rocket. This flight has been designated flight VA256.
This will be the third Ariane 5 flight of this year. The final testing was completed three weeks ago. The Webb is currently being transported by sea from America and is expected to arrive at the launch location by September end.
Webb is a collaboration of Nasa, Esa, and the Canadian Space Agency. It works at longer wavelengths and is 100 times more sensitive to the Hubble space telescope. Webb studies the infrared universe while Hubble uses visible wavelengths. Webb's science will be complementary to Hubble's.
Webb's infrared vision will, among other things, allow it to view inside dust clouds, where stars and planets form, look back into the universe to see very young galaxies, as well as take detailed atmospheric readings for planets around other stars. Astronomers anticipate Webb to make groundbreaking discoveries in every branch of astronomy, just like Hubble.
