Yesterday, Saturday, the Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched the James Webb Space Telescope, which astronomers around the world have been waiting for thirty years to observe the universe with unprecedented capabilities on its way to its final orbit. One month, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. .

Carrying the most sophisticated cosmic tracking device in space exploration history, the top layer of Ariane 5 shattered, 27 minutes after Crowe’s rocket launch into space.

The milestone was passed

“The web telescope was successfully disassembled and the web moved forward,” said Jean-Luc Boer, director of missiles at the French Guiana Space Center, from the control hall’s inner hall. The US space agency (NASA), along with its European and Canadian counterparts, developed the telescope, and wrote on Twitter that “a critical phase has been completed” with the success of the launch.

For his part, Joseph Aspacher, President of the European Space Agency, noted the “very good” performance of the Ariane 5 rocket and expressed his delight at announcing that the spacecraft would be placed in orbit with the utmost precision.

Missile launching moments

Shortly after launch, the telescope flew over the Atlantic Ocean, reaching its final section at an altitude of 1,400 km / h and a top speed of over 34,000 km / h. A camera mounted on the top of the rocket showed this section, especially after the telescope’s solar panels were deployed a few seconds later.

Images of this very important moment, especially for the good functioning of the telescope instruments, triggered a shower of applause in the center of “Jupiter”, with the same applause force that arose when the top layer of the rocket was successfully disassembled.

Control of the James Webb Telescope is now in the hands of NASA from the Scientific Institute Telescope Center in Baltimore, USA. Before reaching the “LockRange 2” point at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth, the center will oversee precise operations to place the telescope in its proper place. As for the scientific study of the universe, it will begin in six months.

Launch 3 times delayed

The James Webb release has been postponed three times, most recently due to “bad weather” last Tuesday. It is the most accurate space tracking device in history. This will allow them to gain a deeper understanding of how stars and galaxies form and to observe planets outside the solar system, much to the discovery of scientists hoping to find other planets suitable for life.

James Webb will follow the example of the Hubble Space Telescope, which revolutionized space observation techniques, thanks to which scientists discovered black holes in the heart of all galaxies or vapors orbiting extraterrestrial planets.