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It was time for people on Earth to say goodbye to the observatory when it began.
The European Space Agency has released a new video showing the deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Ariane 5 rocket. In three minutes, you'll be able to see the unfurling of its solar panels.
The separation marked the beginning of the journey to a stable area called sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), which allows the spacecraft to "park" using minimal fuel.
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, it is not designed to be serviced by astronauts. The telescope needs to be far away from Earth to minimize stray light from interfering with its work.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope mission is live.
The James Webb Space Telescope works in pictures.
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space in December of 2021. The image is from Arianespace/ESA/NASA.
It will be possible for it to perform work in studying the early universe, among other things. The first major stage of deployment, which was opening and tensioning its sun shield as a further measure to protect its IR work, was completed on Tuesday.
NASA has an approximate deployment schedule in mind, but it is dependent on ground commands, so it has flexibility. It allows engineers to make pauses or adjustments as needed to work out any unforeseen issues, such as a couple of minor issues that were quickly resolved.
An animation shows the final planned trajectory of the James Webb Space Telescope. The image is from NASA.
Getting the observatory ready for work will take at least six more months, and includes things such as getting the mirrors aligned. The first few targets have not yet been revealed, but the first set of test observations and early science will be performed by the project later this year.
An earlier version of the story stated that the video of the James Webb Space Telescope's separation was in 4K resolution. It is in a standard resolution.
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