NASA's James Webb telescope launches from South America, starting a nail-biting mission
The world's flagship science instrument took flight from South America early Saturday, a high-stakes mission that, from well beyond the moon, will peer deeper into the universe's 13.8 billion-year history than ever before. Officials from three agencies and dozens of countries watched in anticipation as the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope vaulted off the pad, a European Ariane 5 rocket lighting up the Christmas Day sky in the South American territory of French Guiana. The 7:20 a.m. liftoff marked the first true test for the 10-year mission. "Go, Webb, go!" Jean-Luc Voyer, director of operations for rocket builder Arianespace, said as he confirmed good separation of the telescope from the upper stage 27 minutes after liftoff. Once unfurled and in its orbit beyond the moon about a million miles from Earth, Webb will use a massive, 21-foot primary mirror made up of 18 gold-coated hexagonal tiles to study the cosmos. Its standout capability is infrared observation, meaning obstacles like dust clouds won't be an issue. Scientists will be able to see the early phases of star formation and even the atmospheric compositions of promising far-off planets.
The world's flagship science instrument took flight from South America early Saturday, a high-stakes mission that, from well beyond the moon, will peer deeper into the universe's 13.8 billion-year history than ever before. Officials from three agencies and dozens of countries watched in anticipation as the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope vaulted off the pad, a European Ariane 5 rocket lighting up the Christmas Day sky in the South American territory of French Guiana. The 7:20 a.m. liftoff marked the first true test for the 10-year mission. "Go, Webb, go!" Jean-Luc Voyer, director of operations for rocket builder Arianespace, said as he confirmed good separation of the telescope from the upper stage 27 minutes after liftoff. Once unfurled and in its orbit beyond the moon about a million miles from Earth, Webb will use a massive, 21-foot primary mirror made up of 18 gold-coated hexagonal tiles to study the cosmos. Its standout capability is infrared observation, meaning obstacles like dust clouds won't be an issue. Scientists will be able to see the early phases of star formation and even the atmospheric compositions of promising far-off planets.
