Tomorrow, Christmas Day, the mission of the most powerful space telescope ever built will begin.

Our patience and that of countless others has been put to the test. But finally the time has come! Because ESA has confirmed that tomorrow, on Christmas Day, the launch of the long-awaited James Webb telescope will take place. An exciting and exciting moment. Because the launch of the space telescope is the start of a mission that will change our view of the universe forever.

Launch

The James Webb Space Telescope will take to the skies tomorrow, at 13.20 Dutch time, from the European spaceport Kourou; a launch site in French Guiana, located on the northeast coast of South America. The telescope is propelled by an Ariane 5 rocket, which will launch it into precise orbit around Earth. Moments after completing a 26-minute ride aboard the Ariane 5, James Webb will separate from the rocket and continue solo. After about four weeks, the observatory will arrive at its final destination: a place about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. And from there, the most powerful space telescope ever built will make countless and groundbreaking discoveries in all fields of astronomy.

The launch can be followed by anyone who wants to via NASA’s Youtube Channel.

Goals

Expectations are high. Because, as mentioned, James Webb is the most powerful space telescope ever. It means it’s even able to catch light from some of the earliest stars and galaxies, giving us a better understanding of what the universe looked like relatively shortly after the Big Bang. In addition, the telescope will search the atmospheres of exoplanets and look for traces of life in them. In addition, the telescope will be able to unravel more about the still mysterious dark matter and the formation of stars and protoplanetary systems. Spectacular space photos are of course also expected.

To-do list James Webb. Image: ESA

The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to be fully operational about six months after launch. What will the telescope do on its first day of work? Astronomers will use the telescope, among other things, to investigate the atmosphere of the Earth-like exoplanet GI486b, to find out whether lava is raining on the exoplanet 55 Cancri e and to find out whether Trappist-1c has an atmosphere. Even closer to home, there are still plenty of unanswered research questions. For example, the telescope will also investigate the moons of Uranus, the climate of Pluto and comet Hale-Bopp.

Delay

It promises to be an exciting mission that will answer many questions about the universe. But we did have to wait a while. Setback after setback caused the launch date to be repeatedly pushed back and the budget stretched considerably. In the end, the mission was even delayed by fourteen years!

Where’s the delay?
The launch should actually have taken place between 2007 and 2011; years that are far behind us. The reason for the ever-delayed launch date? Many things are involved in the construction of such a powerful telescope. And as the telescope’s development progressed, building the space telescope turned out to be not that easy. For example, the main mirror consists of eighteen individual mirrors that together have to behave like one large mirror. The enormous size of the telescope also poses challenges. For example, to fit into the five-metre-wide nose of a launch vehicle, the telescope must be carefully folded and then unfolded again later in space, 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. Once fully unfolded, the telescope – which has enormous solar panels in addition to a 6.5-meter high main mirror – is about the same size as a tennis court. All these things led to the development phase being stretched endlessly.

The long-awaited launch of the powerful James Webb telescope has therefore been delayed. That doesn’t change the fact that astronomers are eagerly awaiting the launch. The telescope belongs to the next generation of large observatories, capable of great things. We can count on wonderful discoveries. And then the long wait will surely be rewarded.

Scientias.nl dedicates this article in particular to our loyal and enthusiastic reader Helena. May this launch you cherish and all the insights that will flow from it far exceed your and our wildest expectations.