The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final orbit, 1.5 million km from Earth
Steph Deschamps / January 25, 2022
Almost a month after its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final orbit, at 1.5 million km from Earth, from which it will be able to observe the first galaxies in the universe, Nasa confirmed Monday.
It activated its thrusters at about 19:00 GMT to reach the Lagrange 2 point, ideal for observing the cosmos. Welcome home, Webb! exclaimed U.S. space agency boss Bill Nelson in a statement.
We are one step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. And I can't wait to see the first new images of the universe from (the) Webb telescope this summer! he added.
In this carefully chosen orbit, the Earth, the Sun and the Moon will all be on the other side of its sun visor, which will ensure that it operates in the darkness and in the extreme cold that are essential for the study of the first cosmic rays via its infrared sensors.
This is the third time the telescope has fired its thrusters since its launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on December 25.
The great impulse provided by the rocket had indeed been consciously minimized to avoid that the instrument exceeds its objective, without real hope of return, and it still had to, by small successive pushes, place itself there.
The James Webb Telescope, whose cost to NASA is estimated at $10 billion, is one of the most expensive pieces of scientific equipment ever built, comparable to its predecessor Hubble or the huge particle gas pedal at CERN.
It activated its thrusters at about 19:00 GMT to reach the Lagrange 2 point, ideal for observing the cosmos. Welcome home, Webb! exclaimed U.S. space agency boss Bill Nelson in a statement.