The JWST has now reached L2 , the location where it will show us the universe of discourse .
It ’s been one nether region of a journey , marked by a twelve delays before it even reached the launch pad . Unfortunately , we still have month to hold off before being dazzled by the first images of thefirst starsandnearby exoplanetsthe scope will send back , as careful adjustments of the mirror alignments are still afoot .
L2 ( technically Sun - Earth Lagrangian Point 2 ) is one of five locations where the gravitative strength of the Earth and Sun cancel out the force of asatellite ’s gesture , creating a unchanging position proportional to the Earth .
For a scope like the JWST , being near L2 has the vantage of having the Sum , Earth , and Moon all in one management , secure the shell only demand to point one agency to keep out their radiation syndrome .
Technically , rather than operating precisely in L2 , the JWST will orbit around it , which is in reality an well-fixed orbit to maintain . Although the orbital cavity around L2 does not face the same dangers of overcrowding as low - Earth orbit ( at least not yet ) the JWST will have some company there in the manakin of live or formerWMAP , Herschel , andPlanckspace telescopes .
Overshooting even slenderly would have been black , so NASA organise never planned to put the JWST around L2 in a single step . Instead , the musical theme was to get it into a downcast orbit where itssun - shieldsandmirrorscould open safely , before giving the last nudge .
The extra fuel burn add just 1.6 metre per second ( 5.8 km per hour or 3.6 miles per hour ) , a distinctive walk velocity , to its orbital speed – but this was enough to promote it to a aloofness of almost a million mile ( 1.5 million kilometre ) from Earth and to orb the Sun , not the Earth .
The process was design to practice as little propellent as potential , as every bit leave over leaves more to be used for the corrections that will now and then be necessary to balance radiation pressure from the Sun . An exceptionally efficient launch used less propellant than foreknow , doublingthe JWST ’s anticipated operating life-time .
“ Webb , welcome home base ! ” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson articulate in astatement . “ Congratulations to the squad for all of their voiceless work ensuring Webb ’s dependable arrival at L2 today . We ’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe . And I ca n’t wait to see Webb ’s first new perspective of the universe this summertime ! ”
Or , as one of the JWST parody Twitter account put it :
