Are we finally going to witness the launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope after all this time?
If you haven’t heard about this infamous telescope in the news recently, that’s because it’s not really a new project, but something that was originally supposed to launch all the way back in 2007. But after undergoing a drastic design change, the JWST was then given a new launch window between 2015 and 2018 which conveniently got delayed till June 2019, followed by a new launch date in May 2020 and then when it seemed like it couldn’t get postponed any more, the COVID-19 pandemic proved everyone wrong and once again the launch date was changed to March 2021. But of course, no one predicted the second or the third wave to continue for so long so the previous launch date was again changed to October of this year. Yes, it’s finally happening! (Okay sorry, we don’t want to jinx it just yet)
After years (or in this case, decades) of rigorous testing, NASA finally gave a go-ahead signal for the telescope’s launch into space, all the way to the second Lagrange Point, which is a million miles away from our solar system. But before the telescope can make its long-awaited journey into space, it has to reach the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana on the northern coast of South America all the way from California. Preparations for safe packaging and transportation are underway as it is bound to leave for the launch site in September.
If all goes well this time and the telescope is finally launched, the JWST would scan the cosmos in infrared for at least 10 years, providing scientists a deeper look into space. In the future, this would prove to be our best asset to provide evidence of life beyond Earth.