WASHINGTON: The James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its cosmic parking spot a million miles away, bringing it a step closer to its mission to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, Nasa said Monday.
Around 2pm Eastern Time (Thailand 2am Tuesday), the observatory fired its thrusters for five minutes to reach the so-called second Lagrange point, or L2, where it will have access to nearly half the sky at any given moment.
The delicate burn added 3.6 miles per hour (1.6 metres per second) to Webb’s overall speed, just enough to bring it into a “halo” orbit around L2, 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.
“Webb, welcome home!” said Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement.
Webb will begin its science mission by summer,…
