Born from the visionary dreams of an ambitious crew of scientists, NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope blasted off on Dec. 25 , ready …
Born from the visionary dreams of an ambitious crew of scientists, NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope blasted off on Dec.25, ready to gaze deep into the cosmos and capture images of the universe as it was when time began. Cheers echoed across the globe as we witnessed the inauguration of astronomy’s next great chapter. But Webb still had many miles to go. As it unfurled its origami-like folds while transiting space’s cold and dark void, the explorer headed toward its cosmic work desk at the second Lagrange point, or L2, where the gravity of the sun and the Earth balance out to keep the satellite in a steady spot. On Monday, just after 11a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET, Webb reached its final destination. NASA engineers powered Webb’s thrusters for nearly five minutes to perfect the probe’s positioning. Beyond applause, the milestone was greeted with a well-deserved exhale.
