NASA said Monday that the James Webb Space Telescope has reached its destination around a million miles away from our planet.
In order to reach the second lagrange point, or L2, the observatory fired its thrusters for 5 minutes.
Bill Nelson said "Webb, welcome home!"
We are one step closer to discovering the mysteries of the Universe. I can't wait to see the first new views of the Universe this summer.
The trajectory of the last burn. Steve Sabia works for NASA.
As it moves around the Sun, it will be in line with the Earth, allowing it to protect its equipment from heat and light.
The cold side of the giant parasol needs the Sun, Earth, and Moon to be in the same direction to offer effective protection.
The third maneuver since the launch of the Ariane 5 rocket on December 25 was the thruster firing.
If the rocket thrust was too high, it wouldn't be able to turn around and fly back to Earth, as it would expose its optics to the Sun, overheating and destroying them.
To make up for the difference, it was decided to slightly underburn the rocket firing and use the telescope's own thrusters.
One of the most expensive scientific platforms ever built is expected to cost NASA nearly US$10 billion, making it the most expensive platform ever built.
Home, home on Lagrange! We successfully completed our burn to start #NASAWebb, which is about a million miles from Earth. The Sun will be in line with Earth.
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January 24, 2022.
The halo is in the sky.
While Hubble is in the vicinity of the Earth, the pull from the Sun and Earth will be balanced by the force of the rotating system.
An object at one of the five points will remain stable and not fall into the gravity well of the Sun and Earth, which requires only a little fuel for adjustments.
In order to complete a cycle every six months, he will go around L2 in a "halo" at a distance similar to the Earth and Moon.
Another milestone is complete!
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Today's burn was a success and #Webb is now 1.5 million kilometres away. NASA Goddard's details are here.
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January 24, 2022.
The telescope will be able to generate power from its solar panels.
The European Space Agency's Herschel and Planck observatory are two previous missions to L2.
There are five points around Earth. The WMAP Science Team is part of the NASA.
The Deep Space Network will allow continuous communications with Earth via three large antennas in Australia, Spain and California.
The process of unfolding the golden mirror that will collect signals from the first stars and galaxies that formed 13 billion years ago has been completed by NASA.
The Universe's expansion has stretched the visible and ultraviolet light emitted by the very first objects, and now it arrives in the form of IR, which is equipped to detect with unprecedented clarity.
Its mission includes the study of distant planets to determine their origin, evolution, and habitability.
Next steps include calibrating the scientific instruments. The first images are expected to be transmitted in June or July.
Agence France-Presse.
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