James Webb Space Telescope launches into space

  China News Agency, San Francisco, December 25. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on the 25th local time that the James Webb Space Telescope was launched at the Kuru Space Center in French Guiana that day.

  NASA stated on its official website that at 7:20 on the 25th Eastern Time, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket.

Ground researchers began to receive telemetry data from the James Webb Space Telescope about 5 minutes after the rocket was launched.

After 27 minutes of flight, the telescope separated from the rocket and entered a predetermined orbit.

Data map: The James Webb Space Telescope was tested to prepare for space travel.

  One month after the flight, the James Webb telescope will reach an observation position about 1.6 million kilometers away from the earth and stay on the night surface of the earth, orbiting the sun synchronously with the earth.

CNN reported that after six months of various inspections, the telescope will begin collecting data and the first batch of images in late 2022. From then on, it will be responsible for observing the galaxies that first appeared after the formation of the universe and the search area. Signs of external life and other tasks.

  The Associated Press reported that the James Webb telescope was jointly researched and developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, and is considered the "successor" of the Hubble Telescope.

The Hubble telescope mainly conducts observations in the visible and ultraviolet bands, while the observation range of the James Webb telescope is mainly concentrated in the infrared band.

The latter carries 4 state-of-the-art scientific instruments, equipped with high-resolution, high-sensitivity infrared detectors, which will study infrared light from celestial bodies more clearly.

  The James Webb Telescope is the most powerful and most expensive space telescope built.

It costs about 10 billion U.S. dollars, weighs 7 tons, and has a main mirror of 6.5 meters in diameter. It is composed of 18 huge hexagonal sub-mirrors, and the area of ​​the sun visor is equivalent to the size of a tennis court.

  The James Webb Space Telescope was originally scheduled to launch at 7:20 on the 24th.

NASA said on the 21st that due to severe weather, the launch date of the telescope was postponed from December 24 to December 25 at the earliest.

(Finish)