JWST Launch Delayed to Christmas Eve

(Photo: Desiree Stover/NASA) Last month, we hoped the James Webb Space Telescope’s new December 22 launch date would constitute the last of its delays. Our wish wasn’t granted—the eagerly-awaited launch has now been postponed to December 24.

“The James Webb Space Telescope team is working a communication issue between the observatory and the launch vehicle system. This will delay the launch date to no earlier than Friday, Dec. 24,” NASA said in a brief statement earlier this week. 

Webb has faced numerous delays since its original launch date in 2018, due in part to pandemic-related hiccups and a handful of technical challenges. The most recent delay, from December 18 to December 22, was widely thought to be the last as NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency worked to put the finishing touches on the telescope. But if the past couple years have taught us anything, it’s that timelines are better written in sand than in stone. Webb could be delayed yet again by unforeseeable circumstances such as weather or mechanical issues on the day of launch (though we’re crossing our fingers that it won’t be). 

Technicians connected Webb to the Ariane 5 in a dust-free environment last week. (Photo: ESA/M. Pedoussaut/NASA)

Despite the fact that the newly-planned lift-off is only a week away, early-adopted fans of Webb are impatient for its debut. Webb is expected to replace the aging Hubble Space Telescope once it reaches its permanent residence, the L2 Lagrange Point. Thanks to its 21-foot primary mirror and its ability to “view” infrared, the $10 billion telescope is thought to be capable of seeing things humankind has never seen before, including the first stars ever born and galaxies we haven’t so much as peeked at. It will also be able to identify and inspect the atmospheres of previously-unseen exoplanets. In a way, it’s like looking back in time. With that kind of potential, it’s hard not to get excited. 

Webb will hitch a ride to its intergalactic destination aboard the Ariane 5, a rocket located at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The telescope was secured to Ariane 5 last week in “one of the most delicate operations during the entire launch campaign for Webb.” Next, the team has to encapsulate Webb inside the Ariane 5’s specially adapted fairing—just one of several tasks to check off before Webb’s launch on Christmas Eve.

Let’s just hope Webb doesn’t hit Santa on its way through the sky. 

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