NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is seen above Earth after separating from its Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 25, 2021. The view is from a camera on the rocket as Webb begins its trip to its final orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.
<p>NASA&#8217;s James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched last Saturday at <span class="xn-chron">7:20 a.m. EST </span>on an Ariane 5 rocket from <span class="xn-location">Europe&#8217;s</span> Spaceport in <span class="xn-location">French Guiana</span>, <span class="xn-location">South America</span>.</p>
<p>[<strong>Photo above</strong>: NASA&#8217;s James Webb Space Telescope is seen above Earth after separating from its Ariane 5 rocket on Dec. 25, 2021. The view is from a camera on the rocket as Webb begins its trip to its final orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.]</p>
<p>A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, the <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> observatory is NASA&#8217;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.</p>
<p>&#8220;The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future,&#8221; said NASA Administrator <span class="xn-person">Bill Nelson</span>. &#8220;The promise of <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> is not what we know we will discover; it&#8217;s what we don&#8217;t yet understand or can&#8217;t yet fathom about our universe. I can&#8217;t wait to see what it uncovers!&#8221;</p>
<p>Ground teams began receiving telemetry data from <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> about five minutes after launch. The Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket performed as expected, separating from the observatory 27 minutes into the flight. The observatory was released at an altitude of approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers). Approximately 30 minutes after launch, <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> unfolded its solar array, and mission managers confirmed that the solar array was providing power to the observatory. After solar array deployment, mission operators will establish a communications link with the observatory via the Malindi ground station in <span class="xn-location">Kenya</span>, and ground control at the Space Telescope Science Institute in <span class="xn-location">Baltimore</span> will send the first commands to the spacecraft.</p>
<p>Engineers and ground controllers will conduct the first of three mid-course correction burns about 12 hours and 30 minutes after launch, firing <span class="xn-location">Webb&#8217;s</span> thrusters to maneuver the spacecraft on an optimal trajectory toward its destination in orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to congratulate the team on this incredible achievement – <span class="xn-location">Webb&#8217;s</span> 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,&#8221; said <span class="xn-person">Thomas Zurbuchen</span>, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in <span class="xn-location">Washington</span>. &#8220;<span class="xn-location">Webb&#8217;s</span> scientific promise is now closer than it ever has been. We are poised on the edge of a truly exciting time of discovery, of things we&#8217;ve never before seen or imagined.&#8221;</p>
<p>The world&#8217;s largest and most complex space science observatory will now begin six months of commissioning in space. At the end of commissioning, <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> will deliver its first images. <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> carries four state-of-the-art science instruments with highly sensitive infrared detectors of unprecedented resolution. <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> will study infrared light from celestial objects with much greater clarity than ever before. The premier mission is the scientific successor to NASA&#8217;s iconic Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, built to complement and further the scientific discoveries of these and other missions.</p>
<p>&#8220;The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment – this is just the beginning for the <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> mission,&#8221; said <span class="xn-person">Gregory L. Robinson</span>, <span class="xn-location">Webb&#8217;s</span> program director at NASA Headquarters. &#8220;Now we will watch <span class="xn-location">Webb&#8217;s</span> highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.&#8221;</p>
<p>The telescope&#8217;s revolutionary technology will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, to everything in between. <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.</p>
<p>NASA Headquarters oversees the mission for the agency&#8217;s Science Mission Directorate. NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center in <span class="xn-location">Greenbelt, Maryland</span>, manages <span class="xn-location">Webb</span> for the agency and oversees work on the mission performed by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Northrop Grumman, and other mission partners. In addition to Goddard, several NASA centers contributed to the project, including the agency&#8217;s Johnson Space Center in <span class="xn-location">Houston</span>, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in <span class="xn-location">Southern California</span>, Marshall Space Flight Center in <span class="xn-location">Huntsville, Alabama</span>, Ames Research Center in <span class="xn-location">California&#8217;s</span> Silicon Valley, and others.</p>

ARMONK, NY -- IBM has agreed to buy Confluent, Inc., the data streaming pioneer, for…
SANTA CLARA -- Marvell Technology, Inc., a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, plans to…
MOUNTAIN VIEW -- ALM Ventures has announced the launch of ALM Ventures Fund I, a…
SAN FRANCISCO -- Brainworks Ventures, an AI-native venture capital fund led by DARPA alumnus Dr.…
OpenAI is hiring Slack CEO Denise Dresser as the company's Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing global…
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has charged a San Jose 17-year-old with attempted…