Saturday’s start window will be open from 13:20 to 13:52 CET.
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At Tuesday’s press conference, NASA officials said that the rocket and telescope were in good condition and that the only persistent, albeit tolerable, problem was the interrupted communication between them. This problem previously forced a two-day delay and postponement of the start to December 24.
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The launch of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle with the James Webb JWST Space Telescope has been postponed due to unfavorable weather forecast (altitude wind) on 25 December. The start window will be open from 13:20 to 13:52 CET. pic.twitter.com/XxjLU7vYX3
– Michal Vaclavik (@Kosmo_Michal) December 22, 2021
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Therefore, the previous deadline of December 22, which we wrote about, did not last long either.
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First plan: 2007
The US Space Agency originally wanted to launch the Webb Observatory in 2007, but has gradually postponed the date. This year, she was scheduled to fly into space first in March, but due to the pandemic, the launch was postponed to November and then to December 18.
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The incident in preparation of the telescope for connection to the launch vehicle at the Kourou spaceport in South American French Guiana required an inspection to ensure that the equipment was not damaged, and thus a postponement until December 22.
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The Webb Telescope is an international project involving the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian CSA in addition to NASA. The new space observatory aims to explore space history – from the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. One of its important goals will be to look for signs of possible life outside the solar system.
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It is to be located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, almost five times further than the moon. It will operate in orbit around the Sun.
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The device consists of 18 hexagonal beryllium mirrors with a total diameter of 6.5 meters, whose position can be controlled from Earth. It was named after James E. Webb, who was NASA’s director in the 1960s, at the height of the US and USSR space races.
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The James Webb telescope is intended to replace the obsolete, albeit still functional, Hubble Telescope.
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