Switzerland – NASA prepares to launch most powerful space telescope in history

Switzerland – NASA prepares to launch most powerful space telescope in history

After three decades of preparations and numerous delays, NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope looks set to soar into the heavens on Christmas Day. Swiss scientists involved in the project are watching nervously to make sure everything goes according to plan. This content was published on December 22, 2021 - 08:26 December 22, 2021 - 08:26 Simon Bradley (text), Michele Andina (video), Helen James (images) The lift-off of the Webb – the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope – is scheduled for December 25, according to NASA. "The closer the launch date, the more nervous I get," says Adrian Glauser, a scientist at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich, who has been working on the project for the past 18 years. "It will certainly be a relief if everything happens according to plan." The $9-billion (CHF8. 2 billion) telescope is due to blast off aboard an Ariane rocket at the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana. It will then travel on a month-long 1. 6 million kilometre (million-mile) journey to its final orbit beyond the Earth's moon. There it will begin a high-risk six-month process of unfurling its sunshield and deploying its primary mirror before it starts gazing at