Webb separation from Ariane 5
This realtime video shows the separation of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and the subsequent solar array deployment. Webbs launch on an ESAprovided Ariane 5 rocket was performed by arianespace on behalf of ESA from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana, at 12:20:07 GMT (13:20:07 CET) on 25 December 2021. Webb separation from the Ariane 5 occurred at 12:47:14 GMT (13:47:14 CET) with solar array deployment starting 69 seconds later. Thanks to Ariane 5s highly precise launch trajectory Webbs solar array was able to deploy soon after separation from the Ariane 5, capturing sunlight to power the observatory. This video shows the view from Ariane 5s upper stage, taken by a camera manufactured by Irish company Réaltra Space Systems Engineering. Webb is the next great space science observatory following Hubble, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. Webb will see farther into our origins:
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