![]() During the trip, many precise unfoldings and adjustments will have to be perfectly executed to ensure proper functioning of the telescope. Webb must travel for a month to reach its target location. "I am so happy for everyone who made this possible and am looking forward to the science that will come from everyone's hard work in the months ahead." "It's incredibly exciting to have a successful launch," said Buell Jannuzi, astronomy department head and director of Steward Observatory. Two other instruments, supplied by the European and Canadian space agencies, round out Webb's scientific package. "Infrared astronomy started here in the 1960s, and it has been an exciting ride all the way to the revolutionary capabilities of the Webb Telescope," George said. "Never did I imagine that I would be searching for distant galaxies as I started out in infrared astronomy by observing bright red stars," Marcia said. The Riekes helped the field of flourish into a powerful discipline that has allowed scientists to see the universe in ways that were deemed impossible 50 years ago. Infrared astronomy was once a niche endeavor fraught with extreme technical challenges. The instrument was added to Webb to expand the telescope's reach even farther into the infrared spectrum. George Rieke, Marcia's husband and also a Regents Professor of Astronomy at UArizona's Steward Observatory, is the science team lead for the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, built by a consortium of European scientists and engineers and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. UArizona Regents Professor of Astronomy Marcia Rieke, principal investigator for NIRCam, led the development of the instrument that Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center built, designed and tested. ![]() Webb's Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, is one of the most sensitive infrared cameras ever built and will serve as the telescope's primary imager. University of Arizona astronomers played key roles in designing and developing the telescope's infrared eyes, which will allow it to peer deeper into the cosmos than ever before and collect light from the earliest stars and galaxies, nebulous stellar nurseries, planetary atmospheres, and more. Webb is NASA's top science priority and involved decades of work by thousands of scientists, engineers, and managers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. If all goes smoothly, a new era in space observation will begin. The successful launch marked the beginning of the telescope's monthlong journey to its new home, which is four times farther away from Earth than the moon. ![]() (MST), the Ariane 5 rocket roared into the sky from its launchpad in Kourou, French Guiana, with the James Webb Space Telescope safely stowed inside. ![]() 25 from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe's Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope successfully launched the morning of Dec. ![]()
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