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James Webb Space Telescope Launch Highlights
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST on December 25, 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America. A camera fixed on the launch vehicle’s upper stage captured Webb’s separation from the launch vehicle at 7:47 a.m. EST. Due to the Ariane 5’s highly precise launch trajectory, cameras also captured the deployment of Webb’s solar array, which powered the observatory on.
Team members at the Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute watched on as they prepared to take control of Webb—first sending commands to the telescope to prepare it for a series of complex deployments while on its way to L2.
Music: "Awestruck" and "Lifted High" by Cody Martin (Boss Soundstripe Productions)
- Release DateDecember 25, 2021
- Science ReleaseNASA’s Webb Telescope Launches to See First Galaxies, Distant Worlds
- CreditVideo: NASA, ESA, CSA, Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI); Music: Cody Martin (Soundstripe Productions)
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Ariane 5 Rocket Launch of the JWST Mission
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched Dec. 25 at 7:20 a.m. EST on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Webb, a partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, will explore every...
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Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA, ESA, CSA, Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)
Cody Martin (Soundstripe Productions)
