Engineers completed further testing on Wednesday, Nov. 24, confirming that Webb’s telescope was ready to fly, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.
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NASA experts subsequently concluded that no parts of this planned space observatory had been damaged in the incident. The observatory’s refueling operation could begin on Thursday, lasting about 10 days.
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Incident at the spaceport
Webb’s telescope was originally scheduled for March, but due to a pandemic, it had to be postponed to this month and then to December 18. However, after the incident at the Kourou spaceport, there was a threat of a greater postponement than on the aforementioned 22 December.
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It is confirmed that the minor accident did not damage the James Webb Space Telescope and may proceed to the next phase of pre-launch preparations. https://t.co/QS1z0NPWZy
– Michal Vaclavik (@Kosmo_Michal) November 25, 2021
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Technicians were about to attach an adapter to the telescope to attach to the Ariane 5 launch vehicle when the strap was suddenly released, causing vibrations throughout the space telescope.
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The telescope is an international project designed to explore every phase of space history – from our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe and everything in between. It will be used to study the evolution of the first galaxies and stars after the so-called Big Bang, and to look for signs of possible life outside the solar system.
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The already fully tested next-generation telescope, a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for 10 billion dollars (approximately 215 billion crowns), is the imaginary successor of the obsolete but still functional Hubble space telescope.
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When the Webb’s telescope reaches its final position in orbit around the Sun, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, and begins work, it will be the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space.
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The device consists of 18 hexagonal beryllium mirrors with a total diameter of 6.5 meters, whose position can be controlled from Earth. It was named after James E. Webb, who was NASA’s director in the 1960s, at the height of the US and USSR space races.
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