At its launch last Saturday, its intended orbit was accomplished with such precision that “Webb” used far less fuel than NASA had planned, writes the US space agency today. “The observatory has enough fuel to conduct science in space for much longer than a decade.”
NASA hoped to use the space telescope for at least five years, which is to succeed the famous Hubble telescope. However, Webb’s life may be shortened later by other factors.
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Small Maneuvers
A spacecraft like the Webb has to perform small maneuvers regularly, for example to maintain a good orbit around the Earth. The more fuel left after launch, the longer Webb can continue making these kinds of corrections.
Both the launch and the first correction maneuver made by the Webb shortly afterwards went well beyond expectations. This also allowed the telescope to deploy its solar cells earlier than expected.
The Webb telescope is now on its way to its final destination, a process that would take about a month. The first images are expected in the summer. The Hubble is now thirty years old. Webb’s predecessor is expected to be out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere in the next decade.
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