The James Webb Space Telescope is finally ready to launch after 14 years of development. NASA has approved its launch readiness review and given it the green light for launch, which was supposed to take place on December 24. Unfortunately, bad weather has caused the agency to delay its launch yet again. The James Webb will lift off from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket with a new target date of December 25 and a launch window between 7:20 a.m. and 7:52 a.m. Eastern Time.
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This is the closest the telescope has ever come to beginning its month-long journey to its destination. It has been delayed multiple times in the past for one reason or another — NASA targeted an October launch date after its development was delayed by the pandemic, but it ultimately turned out the telescope wouldn't be ready until November or December.
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NASA (and its partners, the European and Canadian space agencies) then targeted a launch date of December 18, before changing it to December 22. The James Webb team needed the extra time to inspect the telescope and make sure nothing had been damaged during an incident that occurred during testing. Its launch was delayed to December 24 after that, due to a communication problem between the telescope and the Ariane 5. This time, NASA had already held a press conference confirming that the telescope was ready for launch before announcing the new target date.
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After the James Webb Space Telescope reaches its orbit near the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system, researchers around the world will be able to use it to peer at some of the universe's earliest galaxies, examine black holes and assess the habitability of exoplanets. NASA will confirm the new launch date this afternoon.
Information source: engadget.com
