NASA to launch James Webb telescope, Hubble's successor, at Christmas

Photo: Bill Ingalls / NASA / Getty Images

NASA confirmed that the launch of the James Webb telescope , considered the successor of Hubble , will take place on the morning of the day of Christmas in French Guiana .

The NASA reported a new launch delay, previously scheduled for 24, due to to bad weather, and set the new date on Christmas Day, although he left the confirmation on the day for this afternoon 25, once the weather forecast was reviewed again.

In a statement it has confirmed that the launch is scheduled from 07: 20 local time with a window of 32 minutes to complete it .

NASA has already explained that it has reviewed the entire pre-launch process and that the Ariane 5 rocket, responsible for transporting the telescope, is ready for its mission.

The space telescope James Webb, named after a former NASA administrator, will be the world’s largest space science observatory when launched, capable of probing hitherto inaccessible worlds and exploring the origins of our solar system.

A joint mission

This joint mission of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency will be launched into space from the European spaceport in French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on which the telescope has been secured this weekend.

The launch of the telescope, which was originally due to go into orbit in the spring of 2019, has been delayed at least another four goose

When it begins to operate, the telescope will carry out part of its observations outside the Solar System and exoplanets, for example, will be one of the pillars of this mission, as explained by scientists from the European Space Agency last week.

Within the Solar System, the telescope will study the planets that are beyond the Earth , such as the gas giants and the icy planets, but above all it will focus a lot on observing the atmospheres and the structure of those planets.

Is it really the successor?

The new James Webb space telescope is set to be the successor to Hubble, but between the two they have spent more than 30 years and technologically they are very diverse. The size of its primary mirror and its ability to see infrared light make the main differences.

The James Webb will become the most powerful telescope launched into space, a kind of “time machine” that will observe hitherto unreachable places in the universe. The differences between the James Webb (JW) and the Hubble are many, from its shape and size, to the distance at which it will operate, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, which makes impossible to send manned missions to repair or update it.

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