Everyone was relieved that the telescope didn't blow up after it was launched. The launch was precise enough that it may have enough propellant to continue its scientific operations for longer than planned.
Some of the oldest light in the universe will be taken by the man. The telescope was launched from a European Space Agency launchpad in French Guiana on December 25 and is currently over 360,000 miles away from us. The final destination is called Lagrange point 2 and it is 40% of the way there. L2 is a point in space that allows the use of minimal amounts of fuel to stay in a stable position relative to Earth and the Sun.
According to a new release from the European Space Agency, less fuel will be needed to correct the telescope's course the rest of the way because the launch was so precise. It has used rocket propellant to correct its course twice and will burn more to get into space.
Once the spaceship is in position, it will occasionally use fuel to maintain its position and orientation in space, as well as to peer at specific regions of space. The minimum baseline for the mission was five years, but the recent analysis of the launch indicated that it may be possible to conduct operations at L2 for over a decade.
The Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched from Earth in 1990 and has given humanity a remarkable 30 years of observations, could be seen as similar. The telescope has stuttered recently, but it is a testament to human engineering that it has lasted as long as it has. We hope we can say the same for him.
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