NASA set to launch James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Eve
NASA has confirmed it will launch its James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Eve.
The long-awaited launch will take place at 7:20 am EST from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, according to
NASA’s website.
Webb’s launch had been delayed several times since 2018 and NASA, along with its collaborators the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, scheduled to launch Webb on Dec. 18.
But NASA had to delay the launch by four days after the telescope was “jolted by a clamp during launch preparations,” according to the
Associated Press and efforts to fix bad communications links delayed take off by two more days to Dec. 22.
Now, the telescope is awaiting its final readiness check scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 21 and, if all goes as planned, a roll out on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The $10 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope will lift off into space on top of a Ariane 5 rocket as it travels to its final destination roughly a million miles away from Earth, according to
The Guardian.
Live coverage during launch day will begin
at 6:00 a.m. EST.
The new $10 billion observatory will take photos of some of the deepest parts of space.
thehill.com
Hope they got it right, no shuttle ride to flip a breaker.