CALIFORNIA, iNews.id – NASA has again postponed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which was supposed to happen on October 31. The American space agency appears to have postponed the launch in November or early December.
The scheduled date has not been confirmed. According to Ars Technica, there are several factors that are the key to determining the new launch date.
director telescope for launch services Beatriz Romero said the delivery of Webb and the readiness of the rocket and the spaceport were all important considerations.
After extensive testing, according to the agency’s head of science Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA and the project’s main contractor, Northrop Grumman, are getting closer to packing the telescope into a shipping container. That will likely happen towards the end of August.
After Webb arrived at the spaceport in French Guiana, it took 55 days to prepare for launch. That means the launch window will be as early as mid-November.
There’s also the issue of the Ariane 5 rocket slated to transport Webb from terra firma. It has been grounded since last August due to issues with the payload fairing, as quoted from Engadget, Wednesday (2/6/2021).
Editor: Dini Listiyani
