Merry Christmas to NASA

This Christmas, space nerds will wake up Christmas morning with giddy excitement. Not to open presents, well ok that may be part of it – who isn’t excited for presents?! – but the main thrill will come from watching the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

After roughly $10 billion and 25 years, development began in 1996, JWST will launch December 25 at 7:20am EST from French Guiana aboard an ESA (European Space Agency) Ariane 5 rocket. If all goes well, JWST will head to the Second Lagrange Point (L2). After setup and initial test, JWST will use its giant 18-segment gold plated mirror to view the infrared wavelength and peer into the distant universe.

James Webb Space Telescope. Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Webb_Space_Telescope_2009_top.jpg.

I have no skin in the game. Just a fascination with space in general. I grew up in the 1990s, in the era of the Space Shuttle. As it so happened, I was sick and home from school on February 1, 2003. As any 15-year-old invalid for a day of my generation would do; I watched The Price Is Right. As it so happened on this fateful day, the Space Shuttle Columbia was scheduled to return to Earth. After The Price Is Right, I spent the rest of the day watching the tragic news coverage of the Shuttle’s breakup on re-entry. I cannot say how deep or lasting impact watching the Columbia disaster unfold in real time had on me. I was interested in space before, and most likely would have continued to be interested had the not keep me home from school that day.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Shuttle was key in building the International Space Station and launched and repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. The last Space Shuttle landed 20 years ago, Hubble is in its death throes, and we are entering a new era of space with private companies beginning to launch their own rockets regularly.

Columbia lifting off on its final mission, STS-107, in 2003. Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Close-up_STS-107_Launch_-_GPN-2003-00080.jpg.

JWST serves as a gap between the old and new order of space. It is a mission led by NASA and will replace the Hubble. But it orbits well outside any current space craft's range. Once launched, James Webb is on its own. Currently, JWST is projected to have a 10-year lifespan, which is limited by the amount of fuel onboard the craft. Perhaps, a decade from now, craft will have the capability to reach L2 and refuel the Telescope. In the meantime, as we head into this new era of space travel, it is important to remember where we have come from. As President John F. Kennedy said in his famous 1962 speech at Rice University, “the eyes of the world now look into space.”[1] And JWST promises to be our most powerful eye.

Merry Christmas!

P.S.

I created a quiz about the JWST on JetPunk. You can check it out: https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1479816/james-webb-space-telescope

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[1] https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm.

There are a myriad of sources on Columbia and JWST. Like any good researcher, I used Wikipedia, LOL!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope