World News Headlines December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling 0 How to watch one of the most nail-biting launches in NASA history 0 0000 0 0 more now viewing How to watch one of the most nail-biting launches in NASA history December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling now playing Transferring money from UAE abroad: what are my cheapest options December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling WIN With Nespresso This Mother’s Day December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling NBA Playoffs 2022: A Casual Fan's Guide to the Postseason December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling Best New Climbing Gear of 2022 December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling A Local Weekend Travel Guide to Austin, Texas December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling First Drive: 2022 Range Rover Ups the Luxury SUV Experience December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling Most Stylish Rain Jackets, Parkas, and Trench Coats for Men December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling EU eyes Russian oil import ban as Moscow strikes western Ukraine December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling World-class Clark Int’l Airport opens new 110,000 square-meter passenger terminal December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling PCG: Bodies of 5 children who drowned in Taal Lake found December 25, 2021 Under One Ceiling How to watch one of the most nail-biting launches in NASA history It’s happening. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — which will give humanity unprecedented views of the deep cosmos — is scheduled to launch into space aboard a trusty Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 25. (A poor weather forecast slightly delayed the much anticipated Dec. 24 blast-off.) It’s one of the most momentous launches in history, the culmination of a quarter-century of work, and over $10 billion spent. Astronomers are understandably anxious. “Everyone’s crossing their fingers,” Jason Steffen, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who researches exoplanets, told Mashable in October. It’s easy to watch the event. NASA will stream the launch live on NASA TV. Coverage of the launch starts at 6 a.m. ET on Dec. 25 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch is set for between 7:20 a.m. – 7:52 ET. Assuming nothing goes awry during the high-stakes events of Friday — the JWST’s spectacular departure from Earth — this will just be one step in the telescope’s long journey to its viewing spot 1 million miles from home. The next steps will involve the “most complex sequence of deployments ever attempted in a single space mission,” explained NASA. For example, one hundred and seven pins must release for the telescope’s great sunshield, which is the length of a tennis court, to properly unfold. The unfurling will take about a month. SEE ALSO: What the giant James Webb telescope will see that Hubble can’t If all goes as planned, JWST — a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency — will: View the first galaxies and stars ever formed (some 13.7 billion years ago) Observe intriguing and unknown exoplanets in other solar systems See objects in the cosmos currently obscured by thick clouds of dust and gas The process of building the scope and preparing it for launch has been tedious and beset with delays. But when your goal is unprecedented, ambitious cosmic science, these struggles usually come with the territory. “The James Webb Space Telescope is the most ambitious and complex astronomical project ever built, and bringing it to life is a long, meticulous process,” European Space Agency director Günther Hasinger said in a statement announcing a delay in 2018. “The wait will be a little longer now but the breakthrough science that it will enable is absolutely worth it.” Tune in! Related Related posts: Turkey convicts Taner Kilic, three others of ‘terror’ charges Worldwide coronavirus death toll surpasses 600,000: Live updates tags: RSS Feed World News 0000 0 0 previous Perseverance's most outta-this-world images of 2021 next Student 'Democracy Wall' disappears as Hong Kong's Chinese University removes protest posters
