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Webb’s fate hinges on high-risk sunshade, mirror deployments
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION
Europe’s spaceport, flagship launcher ready for historic Webb mission
An Ariane 5 rocket reaches the ELA-3 launch zone Thursday at the Guiana Space Center, the final port of call for the James Webb Space Telescope before it ascends into orbit. Credit: ESA/S. Corvaja
Teams in French Guiana positioned a European Ariane 5 rocket into its starting blocks Thursday, ready for liftoff Christmas morning with the nearly $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, the most expensive science instrument ever to leave planet Earth.
Here's the space weather forecast for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch
Space weather could derail the James Webb Space Telescope launch tomorrow. But so far, all seems in favour for tomorrow's big day.
Webb on Ariane 5 roll-out to the launch pad
Video: 00:01:22
On Thursday 23 December, the James Webb Space Telescope, safely stowed inside the fairing of ESA’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle, left the final assembly building for roll-out to the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Christmas night sky: A 2021 Yuletide stargazing guide
December is the month of the winter solstice, which a large part of the world associates with such celebrations as Nativity festivals.
Primordial Black Holes Could Explain Dark Matter and the Growth of Supermassive Black Holes at the Same Time
It’s that time again. Time to look at a possible model to explain dark matter. In this case, a perennial favorite known as primordial black holes. Black holes have long been proposed as the source of dark matter. In many ways, they are the perfect candidate because they only interact with light and matter gravitationally. But stellar-mass black holes have been ruled out observationally. There simply aren’t enough of them to account for dark matter.
30 years and $10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally on the launch pad
NASA and the astronomy community have poured $10 billion and more than two decades into just one piece of machinery. Now they are facing the moment of truth.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope won't hit Santa during Christmas launch
NASA is launching a huge observatory into space early Christmas morning (Dec. 25), but you don't need to worry about it hitting Santa Claus.
Video: Keith Parrish, Webb’s commissioning manager, talks through telescope deployments
Spaceflight Now’s Editor, Stephen Clark, speaks with NASA’s Keith Parrish, the commissioning manager for the Webb Space Telescope. It is his job to make sure the observatory unfolds and extends correctly. He talks us through the deployment sequence in the month after launch. Find out how shake, shimmy and twirl are in the ground controller’s tool box to fix anything that goes wrong.
James Webb Space Telescope: The scientific mysteries no other observatory could unravel
The James Webb Space Telescope is set to revolutionize our understanding of the universe, from the earliest stars and galaxies to the chemistry of exoplanets, asteroids and comets.
10 Christmas space facts that you probably didn't know
The holiday season and space might just be more closely connected than you thought. Check out this list of great Christmas space facts.
Track Santa as he delivers gifts around the world on Christmas Day
Track Santa as he proceeds with his annual Chrismtas present deliveries across the globe in a simulation by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Nerves run high ahead of the James Webb Space Telescope launch this Saturday
Amid all the excitement, there is no shortage of nerves ahead of the launch of the world's most powerful telescope.
How a real NASA patch anchors Netflix's 'Don't Look Up' in reality
"You've got the patch there. In fact, I was observing a little Latin phrase at the bottom, what does that say?" "'Hic Servare Diem,' which means 'Here to save the day.'"
Red velvet Mars
Image: Red velvet Mars
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 24 – January 1
Crescent Venus, ever thinner and lower in twilight, dives toward the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn bide their time. The bright winter constellations fill the east after dark. Mars and Antares pair up at dawn.
Webb on Ariane 5 poised for launch
Image:
The James Webb Space Telescope is safely stowed inside the fairing of ESA’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle, which is now on the launch pad undergoing final checks and fuelling for a targeted liftoff at 12:20 GMT / 13:20 CET on 25 December from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 4, Episode 6 keeps the tempo up
So ... the USS Discovery is now a living, sentient starship?
Video: John Grunsfeld, astronaut and former NASA science chief, talks Webb
Spaceflight Now’s Stephen Clark speaks to astronaut, astronomer and former NASA science head, John Grunsfeld about the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. What big discoveries is he expecting from JWST? Is he nervous about the complex process to unfold the telescope in space? Why did his efforts to prepare JWST for possible servicing fail?
Webb will take next leap in search for habitable worlds
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope in its deployed configuration. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Beginning next year, the James Webb Space Telescope will scan a sampling of the nearly 5,000 alien worlds discovered around other stars to help astronomers identify which of the rocky planets might have atmospheres that could sustain life.
