The approaching James Webb Space Telescope , already seven geezerhood behind schedule , will not launch on Halloween as planned , which is just as well , launch the ominous engagement and this project ’s history of bad hazard . For once , the delay is not due to the scope , but rather the skyrocket that will deliver it to space .
We need to stay on patient , but hopefully not for much longer .
As affirm yesterday during a European Space Agency media briefing , the James Webb Space Telescope will not launch on October 31 asplanned . Should one of two unrelated commercial launch of an Ariane 5 rocket go well in the come months , however , a launch could happen as too soon as mid - November . The original timeline had the JWST launching in 2014 — and then 2018 , then 2019 , then summer 2020 , then March 2021 , then this Halloween — so a few more week of waiting is n’t a big raft . Or at least , that ’s what I ’m secernate myself .
Artist’s conception of the James Webb Space Telescope.Image: Northrop Grumman
No doubt , it ’s severe to be patient , given the hope of what look to be the most noteworthy telescope ever built . Once in outer space , the scope will see the universe in infrared , scan the atm of distant exoplanets , gaze upon stars , and detect ancient galaxies that popped into being a bare 150 million years after the Big Bang .
The project , an international partnership need NASA , ESA , and the Canadian Space Agency , has been beset with delays , including astrengthening of its sunshieldthat make longer than anticipated . The estimated toll of the project , at $ 9.7 billion , is closely double the original quote , according to areportput out by the the Government Accountability Office last month .
And now we have another time lag , this time the result of an anomaly experienced during two launches of Arianespace’sAriane 5 rocketlast year . As the GAO theme stated , “ Ariane launches of this fomite type are presently remit ” until the ESA and Arianespace “ investigate unexpected vehicle accelerations ” that happened when the fairing divide during the two launch . The payloads were successfully deploy in both cases , but Arianespace “ must attest that the issue has been castigate on at least one [ of two scheduled ] launch ” before JWST can go up . Arianespace has not expose the dates of the upcoming launches , but the first could happen in July , SpaceNewsreports .
A technician performing final tests of the telescope.Image: NASA/Chris Gunn
Much of this was confirm at the ESA media briefing go for yesterday , which serve well as a preview of the coming JWST launching and as a primer on the telescope ’s capableness . illustration from NASA , ESA , and CSA participate in the upshot , and the cosmopolitan consensus was that the Ariane 5 projectile is quick and that the launching of JWST in mid - November is likely .
Thomas Zurbuchen , NASA ’s science missionary post director , say the telescope will be shipped to ESA ’s launching site in French Guiana in late August , after which clip it ’ll take 55 day to pack the gadget in the catapult . He described the current timeline for a launching in November as “ approximately correct . ”
Daniel de Chambure , act head of Ariane 5 adaptations and succeeding missions at ESA , said the “ extraction of problem has been discover , ” and “ corrective actions have been taken , ” adding that the qualification revaluation has begun , “ so we should be able to corroborate all that within a few twenty-four hour period or week . ” The anomaly , he iterate , “ will not venture the mission . ” No further details about the problem and how it was resolved were cater .
Zurbuchen said Arianespace has been crystal clear throughout the unconscious process .
“ We ’ve had all the information that we need . We ’ve had in - astuteness proficient discussions with all parties aligned with one goal , and that is to make mission success . ” To which he added : “ We are in the business of projectile science , so we ’re used to problems . ”
Kind of a presentiment matter to say , but at least thing appear to be moving forward . Arianespace has reserve a windowpane to launch JWST from October 31 to early December , so there ’s a decent chance the scope will launch this twelvemonth — but we ’ve been disappointed before . When it comes to the James Webb Space Telescope , we ’ll believe it once we see it park at thesecond Lagrange point , some 1.5 million kilometers ( about 1 million miles ) from Earth .
More : SpaceX loading mission to ISS includes sister squid , tardigrades , and avocados .
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