JWST Launch Date Next Week:

[beecee]

https://phys.org/news/2021-12-nasa-friday-webb-space-telescope.html

NASA confirms next Friday for Webb Space Telescope launch:

In this April 13, 2017 photo provided by NASA, technicians lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA announced Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, that next week's launch of its new space telescope is delayed for at least two days because of a communication problem between the observatory and the rocket. Liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope is now targeted for no earlier than Dec. 24. Credit: Laura Betz/NASA via AP, File

NASA is shooting for next Friday to launch its newest space telescope.

 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson confirmed Friday that the James Webb Space Telescope will attempt to blast off on Christmas Eve. A European Ariane rocket will provide the lift from South America's French Guiana.

The $10 billion Webb—considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope—was supposed to soar Saturday, but was jolted by a clamp during launch preparations, resulting in a four-day delay. Then a bad communication link on the rocket had to be fixed, postponing the launch another two days.

U.S. and European space officials signed off Friday on the launch date, following one last round of testing.

more at link.................

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What a great Christmas present if this goes off without a hitch! Finger crossed...go NASA!!

Edited December 17, 2021 by beecee

[beecee]

https://phys.org/news/2021-12-hubble-telescope-bigger-powerful-successor.html

Hubble telescope's bigger, more powerful successor to soar:

The Hubble Space Telescope's successor is a time-traveling wonder capable of peering back to within a hair's breadth of the dawn of the universe. And it's finally on the brink of flight.

It will be the biggest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever to leave the planet, elaborate in its design and ambitious in its scope. At a budget-busting $10 billion, it is the most expensive and also the trickiest, by far, to pull off.

Set to soar after years of delay on Friday, the James Webb Space Telescope will seek out the faint, twinkling light from the first stars and galaxies, providing a glimpse into cosmic creation. Its infrared eyes will also stare down black holes and hunt for alien worlds, scouring the atmospheres of planets for water and other possible hints of life.

more at link.............................

Edited December 20, 2021 by beecee