The most powerful telescope ever rocketed into space arrived at its destination Monday, ending a white-knuckle journey from its launchpad in South America to a sweet spot in space.
In the first few days after the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, it put the moon in the past. During a month of traveling since Christmas, the spacecraft completely unfolded its antennas, sun shield, and mirrors. On Monday, the mission's ground team fired Webb's thrusters to get the observatory to its final post. NASA said it arrived at 2:24 p.m. Time.
The completion of a series of complicated, first-of-its-kind maneuvers in space and a crucial make-or-break period for the $10 billion telescope marks the achievement. The terror never came to pass because of careful planning and rocket engineering.
You've heard people talk about how easy it was. It is not easy. "NASA makes it look easy, and sometimes they're a victim of their own success," said a planetary astronomer during a phone briefing with reporters. "We all can be proud that we are working together to do great things, to expand our knowledge of the universe, to make the universe more accessible to all of us."
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Some of the oldest, faintest light in the universe will be observed by the giant IR telescope. It will look at a time when many of the first stars and galaxies were born. Scientists will use the telescope to peer into the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. Potential hints of habitability or biological activity could be found in the findings of water and methane.
The telescope will allow for a golden age in our understanding of the universe, with 10 to 20 years of never-before-seen snapshots of space billions of light-years away.
You've heard people talk about how easy it was. It is not easy. Sometimes NASA is a victim of their own success.
The second Lagrange point is where the telescope is located. The location is named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, a mathematician who solved the three-body problem. The question was if there was a way for the three mass to stay in the same position relative to each other. There are five points where that can happen, and the second is where the science will be conducted.
L2 is an ideal place to look at deep space because it keeps the sun and Earth at the observatory's back, facing away from our star. From this location, the sun shield will be able to block the sun, moon, and Earth's light and heat.
The -388-degree Fahrenheit temperature at L2 makes it possible for Webb to see distant stars and galaxies in the form of heat radiation. To pick up faint heat signals from trillions of miles away, the telescope needs to be very cold.
The Deep Space Network is an international array of jumbo antennas supporting NASA's deep space missions. The side of the spaceship facing the sun will have constant access to solar power.
NASA was confident before Monday's maneuver. The team had already implemented vital rocket thrusts to adjust the trajectory of the craft. The final thrusts helped keep the L2 mark under control. That's important. There's no way to turn around and go back towards Earth, explained Randy Kimble in a post. The telescope would be exposed to the sun and the instruments would be ruined.
The last thrust gave a boost to the project. Menzel had said earlier this month that they were not worried about it. It is a very small burn.
The execution of the mission has been perfect so far. They have been expecting the unexpected when it comes to space missions. NASA had to send astronauts out to fix the Hubble telescope in 1993 and it may have put the team on edge. If there were problems this time, it would be too far from home to send repair workers.
NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency are working together to prepare for science operations. Calibration of the telescope's 18 hexagonal mirrors will be the next step. All of the segments have to work together to take pictures of deep space. The first pictures for prime time will be released in June.
The telescope's main purpose was to see the first light in the universe, the first galaxies that formed, and even the first stars that formed. That's its purpose. That's why it was built the way it was.
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