I have had to make promises about how the $10 billion observatory, a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, will change our view of the universe, for years. The experience of writing this post is nothing short of amazing, and I can't believe it's happening. The waiting appears to have ended, as Webb is on top of a rocket and gazing into the sky.
The space telescope is going to be launched. The sun rises at 4:20 a.m. The Guiana Space Center is in French Guiana. The Ariane 5 rocket will perform the heavy lifting. The launch window will end at 7 a.m. The sun rises at 4:52 a.m. The time is PST.
The rocket fueling update will be provided by NASA TV at 3:00 a.m. The time is 12:00 a.m. The real show starts at 6 a.m. The time is 3:00 a.m. The time is PST. The live feeds of the launch will be available on NASA TV, as well as on other websites. You can stay here and watch the action at the feed below.
French and Spanish will be broadcasted by the agency. As long as you have an internet connection, you should be fine. The post-launch press conference is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. The time is 6 a.m. Also on NASA TV.
The first hour of the mission will be nerve-racking, but also exciting. The first one-month journey to the second Lagrange point will require the deployment of solar panels and a course correction maneuver. The next steps will involve a complex series of deployment and calibrations, with the science phase of the mission expected to begin in six months.
The most powerful space telescope ever built is the Webb. Technical and budgetary issues resulted in the delay of the observatory. Astronomers will use the telescope to observe the universe's earliest galaxies, investigate the birthplaces of stars and planets, and look at the atmospheres of distant worlds. The goal is to keep the mission going for at least 10 years.
There are still things that could go wrong with the telescope.
