"Webb's scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been. "I want to congratulate the team on this incredible achievement - Webb's launch marks a significant moment not only for NASA, but for thousands of people worldwide who dedicated their time and talent to this mission over the years," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. After solar array deployment, mission operators will establish a communications link with the observatory via the Malindi ground station in Kenya, and ground control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore will send the first commands to the spacecraft.Įngineers and ground controllers will conduct the first of three mid-course correction burns about 12 hours and 30 minutes after launch, firing Webb's thrusters to maneuver the spacecraft on an optimal trajectory toward its destination in orbit about 1 million miles from Earth. Approximately 30 minutes after launch, Webb unfolded its solar array, and mission managers confirmed that the solar array was providing power to the observatory. The observatory was released at an altitude of approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers). The Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket performed as expected, separating from the observatory 27 minutes into the flight. Ground teams began receiving telemetry data from Webb about five minutes after launch. "The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover it's what we don't yet understand or can't yet fathom about our universe. "The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb observatory is NASA's revolutionary flagship mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets.
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