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The Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to the launch pad in French Guiana on December 23, 2011. The image is from Bill Ingalls/NASA.
The Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to the launch pad in French Guiana on December 23, 2011. The image is from Bill Ingalls/NASA.
The Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA's James Webb Space Telescope rolled out to the launch pad on December 23, 2021. The image is from NASA/Bill Ingalls.
The leaders of the launch confer as the rocket rolls out. The NASA James Webb Space Telescope Program Scientist Eric James, NASA James Webb Space Telescope Program Manager Jeanne Davis, NASA Program Director for the James Webb Space Telescope Greg Robinson, and Arianespace's Vice President for French Guiana Bruno Gérard are pictured. The image is from NASA/Bill Ingalls.
It rained during the two-hour trek to the launch pad in French Guiana for the James Webb Space Telescope. The image is from NASA/Bill Ingalls.
The Ariane 5 rocket carrying the James Webb Space Telescope is pictured in the sky. The image was taken by S. Corvaja.
NASA's next-generation space telescope is on the launch pad after more than two decades of development.
The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to take place on Saturday at 7:21 a.m. The time is 1220 GMT. The Ariane 5 rocket will carry the observatory from French Guiana. Space.com will show the launch coverage beginning at 6 a.m. You can watch directly at the agency's website, or you can get it from NASA.
The Ariane 5 was rolled out from Arianespace's final assembly building at about 11 a.m. The NASA account said that the time was 1600 GMT. The rocket arrived at 1 pm. According to the agency, the time is 1800 GMT.
The James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch is live.
Assuming everything goes well, the James Webb Space Telescope will be on the launch pad for just under two days. If the rocket can't make its Saturday launch window, there are still opportunities through the end of the year.
The observatory is led by NASA. The telescope will spend its first month in space unfurling in a complicated deployment sequence and trekking out to its station some 1 million miles away from Earth.
Scientists hope the telescope will begin gathering observations of the solar system, the galaxy and far, far beyond by mid-2022. Astronomers will be able to study the beginning of the universe thanks to the observatory.
The construction of the James Webb Space Telescope began two years after NASA committed to it. The project has faced many delays and cost overruns, despite the observatory's original goal of a launch in 2007.
The launch was supposed to take place in March of 2021, but the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic delayed the flight to this fall. The launch was pushed back a week due to a technical glitch and weather concerns.
Follow her on social media: EmailMeghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com Follow us on social media.
