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James Webb Telescope Completes Weeks Long Voyage to L2 Orbit

If you haven't been paying attention, the age of the Second Great Space Race is upon us. We understand if paying the bills and tending to your life made it hard to keep up with things. We say this because the $10 billion wonder telescope named after NASA's administrator during the Apollo years just completed its month-long trek to its assigned L2 orbit.
James Webb Space Telescope 7 photos
Photo: European Space Agency/ NASA
James Webb telescope deploys its massive mirrorJames Webb telescope deploys its massive mirrorJames Webb telescope deploys its massive mirrorJames Webb telescope deploys its massive mirrorJames Webb telescope deploys its massive mirrorJames Webb telescope deploys its massive mirror
Hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth, there's no help of rescue if even the most minute detail goes awry. But the James Webb Space Telescope has performed almost flawlessly since its harrowing launch on Christmas Day last year. If all goes to plan, the first mission directive images, i.e., photos taken for the purpose of collecting scientific data and not just test images, may begin as soon as a few months from now, just in time for the summer season.

"The James Webb Space Telescope will unlock some of the universe's biggest mysteries, and it stands as a testament to what's possible when industry and government work together," said Scott Willoughby, Vice President and Program Manager James Webb Space Telescope, Northrop-Grumman. The news caps off a spectacular couple of months for the aerospace contractor. A period in which they also began operations of their MQ-8C Fire Scout autonomous helicopter drone with the U.S. Navy.

The Northrop-Grumman team was responsible for much of the manufacturing of non-scientific sub-systems within the James Webb Telescope. It's hoped that their support and communication systems will allow for seamless scientific research conduction as scientists attempt to photograph objects so distant the distance between itself and the Earth is enough to bend the fabric of space-time. As mind-blowing and Star Trek adjacent as that may sound, it's as real as it gets.

Combine these achievements with the Artemis NASA program slated to return Americans to the moon by the end of this decade, and it's pretty safe to say it's the best time to be a space travel enthusiast since at least the late 1960s. One giant leap for mankind? Try several.
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