ESA shows James Webb Space Telescope's journey in this timelapse video; WATCH

It was December 25, 2021, when the James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) spaceport in French Guiana. Fast forward a month, Webb has finally entered its orbit on January 25 after travelling 1.5 million kilometres in space. Since the telescope is never returning to its home planet, ESA has shared a timelapse video showing the preparations before the launch and the telescope’s last days on Earth. Check out the video below.

The video features everything about the launch preparations including Webb arriving at its launch site in Kourou. In a timelapse, the telescope can be seen folded and suspended while engineers test the equipment and Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket, which was used to deploy the Webb telescope, can also be seen assembled and rolled out to the launch pad. It is worth mentioning that the telescope faced several delays before blasting off into space aboard one of the most powerful rockets ever built. 

James Webb Space Telescope enters orbit

The Webb telescope has been permanently installed at the second Lagrange point (L2) from where it will begin its unprecedented observations in a few months. In the early hours of January 25, engineers fired Webb's thrusters for course correction and finally established it in the orbit at L2. Now that the telescope has reached its destination, Webb's engineers will activate the telescope's instruments in a few weeks and will test their capabilities in the subsequent step. However, the full-scale operations will begin six months after the launch, once all the instruments are confirmed to be fit for work.

Why is the James Webb Space Telescope a big deal?

Until now, astronomers have sought answers to the most fundamental questions about our universe, including its origin and evolution. While the Hubble Space Telescope has been able to answer the questions about the universe’s evolution to some extent, clarity on the origin of the universe still remains a mystery. The Webb telescope, which is the most powerful telescope ever built, will look to answer questions about the universe’s origin by peering back in time. Tap here to read how the telescope would do so. 

Image: Twitter/@NASAWebb