World

James Webb Telescope: NASA’s Most Powerful Telescope Launched into Space

December 25, 2021
Bharat Times English News

New Delhi: The NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful and complex space observatory ever built, perished in space on Christmas after decades of waiting. JWST, also known as Webb, was launched on Saturday, December 25 at 7:20 a.m. EST (5:50 a.m. IST) atop an Ariane 5 rocket.

It went into space from Arianespace’s ELA-3 launch complex at the European Spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana, South America.
Webb is a larger, space-based, infrared observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Development of the $10 billion telescope began in 1996. The Infrared Telescope is the largest space observatory ever built, and the first of its kind.

It is 100 times more powerful than Hubble, and has been folded origami-style to fit the rocket on top of which it was launched. NASA said on its website that Webb would appear like a “transformer” in space.

Webb is also set to reveal the universe and usher in a new era of astronomy.

The live telecast before the launch began at 4:30 PM IST. European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer, who is also an Expedition 66 crew member aboard the International Space Station, explained what Webb will do in space in a live broadcast.

Also read: Explained: How NASA’s James Webb Telescope Will Help Unravel the Mysteries of the Universe and Oldest Galaxies

At 4:54 pm IST, the official Twitter handle of NASA Webb tweeted that the Ariane 5 rocket, which is Webb’s launch vehicle, has been fueled.

Ariane 5, Webb’s launch vehicle (Photo: Twitter/@NASAWebb)

Post-launch timeline of events

After launch, Webb will deploy the second Lagrange point (L2) on its 30-day, million-mile journey. Webb will not be in orbit around Earth like the Hubble Space Telescope, but will actually orbit the Sun. The telescope on L2 will orbit the Earth’s star 1.5 million kilometers, or 1 million miles, from our planet. This orbit is special because it allows the telescope to remain in line with the Earth as it moves around the Sun. As a result, the satellite’s large sunshield will be able to shield the telescope from the light and heat of the Sun, Earth and Moon.

The web will have two sides: the hot side and the cold side. The hot side, which is equipped with a solar panel and communications antenna, will operate at temperatures of 185 degrees Fahrenheit, or 85 degrees Celsius. The cold side, which houses the science instruments, detectors and mirrors, will have a temperature of -388 °F or -233 °C.

In the first hour after launch, solar array deployment took place, followed by “free flight”. Thrust was carried by the Ariane 5 launch vehicle for approximately 26 minutes after liftoff from French Guiana. Webb Ariane separated moments after the second stage engine cut-off. This triggered the solar array to be deployed within minutes so that Webb could begin generating electricity from the sunlight. Also, the telescope will stop draining its battery. JWST quickly established its ability to orient itself and “fly” into space.

Three minutes after the launch, Webb’s official handle tweeted that two solid rocket boosters separated from the Ariane 5 rocket.

About six minutes after launch, Web’s The fairing was closed, revealing the telescope for the first time in space. Also, mission control on Earth successfully obtained telemetry from the observatory.

About 30 minutes after launch, Webb’s official handle tweeted that the telescope has separated from the upper stage, and that the observatory is flying on its own.

Two minutes after separation of the upper stage, the solar array was successfully deployed, and Webb’s battery began to charge.

At 6:23 pm IST, NASA tweeted a video that shows the final look of humanity on the web as it heads into deep space to answer the biggest questions. The post said that Webb, alone in the vastness of space, will soon begin a nearly two-week process to deploy its antennas, mirrors and sunshields.

More than 30 minutes after launch, NASA tweeted that a milestone had been achieved, and Webb is safely in space, powered up, and communicating with ground controllers.

According to a post by JWST’s official Twitter handle, about an hour after launch, Webb is safely in space with the power to pull its solar array from the Sun. The post read that the reaction wheels will point the spacecraft in the right direction so that its sunshield can protect the telescope from radiation and heat.

Webb will cover longer wavelengths of light than Hubble and will have greatly improved sensitivity. NASA said on its website that the longer wavelength will enable Webb to look further back in time to see the first galaxies that formed in the early universe. The primary goal of JWST will be to study galaxy, star and planet formation in the universe.

JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.

The telescope will be a giant leap forward in our desire to understand the universe and its origins. The telescope will probe every stage of cosmic history, from the first dazzling flashes after the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars and planets, and the evolution of our own solar system.

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