NASA
Today marks one month till the Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launches from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana!
Unlike the Mars rovers and landers—in which these spacecraft needed to experience "7 minutes of terror" during entry, descent and landing before they could begin their missions—JWST will undergo 30 days of terror after launch as its solar array, radiators, high-gain antenna, sunshield, gold-plated beryllium mirrors and other components are methodically deployed while the telescope heads towards its final station point a million miles from Earth.
If everything is successful (which I hope to the cosmos they will be), then a new era in astronomy and astrophysics will begin as JWST takes breathtaking images of the universe in ways that we've never seen before! Exciting times.
Today also marks one week till Thanksgiving here in the United States. Carry on!
The most important payload Ariane 5 will ever launch. https://t.co/9XYeHFLu06
— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) November 18, 2021
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