Dec 26, 2021
In Photos: See The Dramatic Final Images Of NASA’s $10 Billion Webb Space Telescope After Its Christmas Day Launch
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: cosmology, space travel
Did you watch the James Webb Space Telescope launch? If you did–and you stayed with the broadcast beyond the successful launch–you will have seen some dramatic images of it separating from the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and beginning its one million miles journey.
That key moment occurred when Webb was 75 miles/120 kilometers above the Earth, with Webb almost immediately unfolding its solar array to give it power. The mission was live!
The first of three mid-course correction burns was made 12 hours and 30 minutes after launch, firing Webb’s thrusters to manoeuvre the spacecraft on a trajectory toward its destination.