![]() The most recent one started at T-2 hours and went until the first course correction burn. “These full up rehearsals start at various points. ![]() “We have seven full rehearsals remaining and several smaller ones with various groups.” “We completed our first launch readiness exercise, since COVID began, two weeks ago,” said Bill. The James Webb launch and deployment timeline. To ensure a smooth commissioning period, James Webb control teams are rehearsing all key aspects of the mission to fine tune their readiness should the telescope behave other than expected. Once launched, six key periods must be passed to formally start science operations: The Étage Supérieur Cryotechnique (Cryogenic Upper Stage) of the Ariane 5 rocket is currently undergoing electrical integration while technicians install the Vulcain 2 engine onto the Étage Principal Cryotechnique (Cryotechnic Main Stage). The payload fairings are currently being produced by RUAG and are scheduled to be completed by February 2021. The Ariane 5 rocket which will place James Webb into its initial orbit is undergoing build and integration operations. Then there’s 55 days of launch site processing covering about 700 tasks.” It’ll take us 12 days to get to the launch site. “We’ll be ready for shipping much earlier than planned ,” said Bill Ochs, NASA James Webb Space Telescope Project Manager. Meanwhile, all of the equipment and preparations needed to ship the telescope by sea are underway, with 17 of those 26 milestones remaining. Recently completed milestones include the first-ever full observatory electrical test as well as the culmination of environmental, vibration, and acoustic testing to ensure the telescope will operate in the temperature realm it will be exposed to in space as well as survive the sound and vibrations that will be imparted to it by the Ariane 5 rocket.Īt present, deployment tests are underway at Northrop Grumman’s California facility, with Scott Willoughby, Vice President & Program Manager, Northrop Grumman, noting that the sunshield will be completely deployed by the end of the year and that teams will have completed all deployment tests by spring 2021 and will then begin the delicate process of folding Webb back up - this time for launch. “However, Webb has made significant progress regardless, and that’s because of a highly dedicated team. ![]() “2020 has been a challenging year due to COVID,” said Greg Robinson, James Webb Space Telescope Program Director at NASA Headquarters. In a virtual update, NASA and Northrop Grumman confirmed the James Webb Space Telescope remains on track for launch on 31 October 2021 atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.įinal pre-launch processing milestones with the telescope, meanwhile, continue at Northrop Grumman’s Redondo Beach, California, facility, with teams currently working toward shipment of the observatory to its South American launch site in August 2021. ![]()
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