Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Webb is folded as it will be for launch.
Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has successfully completed its final tests out at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in California and is being prepared for shipment to its launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Shipment operations have now begun, including all the necessary steps to prepare Webb for a safe journey through the Panama Canal to its launch location in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. After crossing through the Panama Canal, JWST docks in Pariacabo harbour in Kourou. From there, it will be transported by a dedicated truck to Europe’s Spaceport.

Image courtesy of ArianeSpace.com

The telescope is the product of an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Credit: ESA

Grand unfolding

Following launch via an Ariane 5 booster before year’s end, JWST will take one month to fly to its intended orbital location in space nearly one million miles away from Earth, slowly unfolding as it goes.

Sunshield deployments will begin a few days after launch.

Once the observatory has cooled down and stabilized at its frigid operating temperature, several months of alignments to its optics and calibrations of its scientific instruments will occur.

Scientific operations are expected to commence approximately six months after launch.