If you have little interest in future technology and outer space, you must know about the James Webb space telescope. Yes, it is the largest space-based telescope ever built by humans. Although the work of building the telescope was finished a long time ago, it still has not been launched.
The legendary telescope was supposed to launch on December 18, 2021. But at the time of attaching it with the carrier rocket, something went wrong. There were just a few days left to launch and the technicians faced an accidental issue. The update came out this Monday from Nasa.
So if you were waiting to see the historic moment of James Webb leaving the earth, the news is going to break your heart. The launch can be delayed. All these happened when the technicians were attaching the telescope with the carrier spaceship.
An adapter should be attached to the carrier ship to integrate the observatory with the upper part of the rocket. By the way, the rocket that will carry the telescope is called Ariane 5. It was provided by the European Space Agency.
So at the time of that installation, a sudden release of a clamp band is responsible for the uncertain action. The band was ensuring the security of the telescope with the Ariane 5 adapter. With the release of the band, a vibration passed through the observatory.
Basically, these are very sensitive things. One small error in a micro part can ruin the whole 10 billion dollars project. Handling such a delicate machine is tough. Moreover, it will orbit 1.5 million kilometers far from earth. So if something goes wrong, it would be irreparable damage.
The great Hubble telescope had cost a lot to repair since it reached orbit. Fixing something in space costs an enormous amount of money. Not just money matters, you need to understand how risky and hard the work is. The James Webb was supposed to launch a long time ago. It has passed a long long road.
In this situation, no one is expecting a minor hitch or bug. That’s why after this incident a detailed inspection is going on. Nasa ensured that they will keep us up-to-date whenever the inspection finishes. We got from Nasa that the launch date will be on hold till 22nd December.
They will ensure that the James Webb space telescope is completely healthy before it leaves. It has to go on a long journey to show us the unseen universe. So every single thing needs to be perfect.
