The primary mirror of the telescope. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a new interview that he is nervous ahead of the launch. NASA/Chris Gunn
There is no shortage of nerves ahead of the launch of the world's most powerful telescope.
On Saturday, December 25th, the James Webb Space Telescope will blast off from Earth on a journey to its ultimate destination, where it will make the most detailed observations of the early universe. A lot is riding on the success of this telescope, with 25 years of work and $10 billion spent, and ambitious science goals.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Space.com that he was "optimistic, confident, but nervous" about the launch.
The liftoff will take place at 7:21 a.m. The Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket was to be launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures.
Greg Robinson, the program director at NASA, said during a pre-launch news conference that his stress is low and that it gets less as we get to the pad. I'm looking forward to that when it increases with the rocket.
Nelson was asked if his nerves stem from the fact that it is a long time coming or if they are the nerves that come with every rocket launch.
There are still 300 things that have to work perfectly for this mission to be a success. The comment refers to the roughly 343 single-point failures that were built into the James Webb Space Telescope.
There are hundreds of failure possibilities.
These hundreds of single-point failures are steps or procedures that each have to go well or they could spell disaster for the entire mission.
The lead mission systems engineer for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland said during a news conference that 80% of the steps are related to the deployment. Because of its large size, it had to be folded up into its launch vehicle so that it could unfold while in space.
It's hard to avoid having a single-point failure when you have a release mechanism. "It's hard to put full redundancy into that, because there are steps that will slowly unfold the scope," Menzel said. The deployment relies on a number of different release mechanisms.
"All must work perfectly," said a systems engineer for the project.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has a mirror made of gold. Here's why.
The teams working on this mission have been prepared for something to go wrong because of the immense risk that comes with so many single-point failures. The team has been practicing these scenarios over the past two years, where the team will try to solve the problem.
A space telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope is designed to answer some of the biggest questions about the universe. By observing the light in the vicinity of the stars, he will be able to peer far into the past.
Scientists hope that by studying the earliest moments of the universe, star formation, and far-off exoplanets, they will be able to understand dark matter.
The L2 is a point in space on the opposite side of the sun and will be reached about 30 days after launch. The first images from the scientific instruments will be delivered within six months.
"The James Webb Space Telescope is an Apollo moment for all of NASA, for the entire world, but especially for our science programs worldwide," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. It's the stuff of dreams.
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