Kourou: The most powerful space telescope in the world is set to blow up on Saturday to outpost 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth, after several delays are caused by technical barriers.
The James Webb Space Telescope, about three decades and billions of dollars in manufacturing, will leave the earth attached to Rocket Ariane 5 from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.
Launch, scheduled in a short window after 9:20 a.m.
(1220 GMT), will send a telescope on a trip for a month to the distance orbit.
It is expected to restart new instructions that will help scientists understand more about the origin of the universe and planets such as earth outside our solar system.
Named after the former NASA director, Webb followed the legendary Hubble footsteps – but intended to show humans such as the universe even closer to his birth of almost 14 billion years ago.
Speaking on social media, Webb Co-Founder John Mather describes the sensitivity of an unprecedented telescope.
“#Jwst can see a hot signature from a bumblebee at a month’s distance,” he said.
All of these powers needed to detect the weak light emitted by billions of years ago by the first galaxy and the first stars were formed.
The telescope is not evenly distributed in size and complexity.
The mirror is 6.5 meters (21 feet) in diameter – three times the size of the hubble mirror – and is made of 18 hexagonal parts.
Very large so it must be folded to fit the rocket.
The maneuver is guided by a laser with NASA that imposes strict insulation measures to limit contact with telescope mirrors from particles or even human breaths.
After the rocket brings Webb 120 kilometers, the craft protective nose, called “fairing”, shed to ease the burden.
To protect the subtle instruments of the pressure change at that stage, ArianSpace Rocket-Builder installs a special decompression system.
“Extraordinary steps for extraordinary clients,” a European space agency official at Kourou on Thursday.
The crew on the ground will know whether the first stage of the flight managed about 27 minutes after the launch.
After reaching the station, the challenge will fully spread the mirror and the tennis court shield.
The process of complex intimidation will take two weeks and must be perfect if Webb works correctly.
The orbits will be much further than Hubble, which has been 600 kilometers above the earth since 1990.
The location of the Webb orbit is called Lagrange 2 Point and is selected in part because it will keep the earth, the sun, and the same half of the Sun Shield.
Webb is expected to officially enter the service in June.