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James Webb Space Telescope launch campaign:
GVs James Webb arrival in Kourou, French Guiana - part 2
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- Title James Webb Space Telescope launch campaign - GVs James Webb arrival in Kourou, French Guiana - part 2
- Length 00:03:01
- Footage Type TV Exchanges
- Additional Formats:
- Copyright ESA/CNES/Arianespace
- Use Restriction ,
- Description
The James Webb Space Telescope arrived safely at Pariacabo harbour in French Guiana on 12 October 2021 ahead of its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport.
Few space science missions have been as eagerly anticipated as the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). As the next great space science observatory following Hubble, Webb is designed to resolve unanswered questions about the Universe and see farther into our origins: from the formation of stars and planets to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. Webb will be the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space.
Webb arrived from California on board the MN Colibri which sailed the Panama Canal to French Guiana on a 16-day voyage.
Though the telescope weighs only six tonnes, it is more than 10.5 m high and almost 4.5 m wide when folded. It was shipped in its folded position with auxiliary equipment in a 30 m long, 5.5 m high, 4.6 m wide container that weighs more than 70 tonnes. This is such an exceptional mission that a heavy-load tractor unit was brought on board MN Colibri to carefully transport Webb to the Spaceport.
Webb was taken to a dedicated spacecraft preparation facility. Here it will be unpacked and examined to ensure that it is undamaged from its voyage and in good working order. Webb will then be configured for flight, which includes loading the spacecraft with propellants, before Webb is mounted on top of the rocket and then encapsulated by the fairing.
As part of an international collaboration agreement, ESA is providing the telescope’s launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, built by ArianeGroup.
Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace.
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).