The
James Webb star spirglass lifted off on Christmas morning from French
Guiana, riding atop an Ariane 5 starship, with thousands of folks
looking on from the ground, and many more watching on the web.
The name of the star spirglass comes from the former head of NASA,
James E. Webb, who worked for NASA on the Apollo undertaking amid John
F. Kennedy's foresittership.
After 30 years of being built, this new star spirglass will be taking
over for the worn-out Hubble spirglass. Craftsmen from the US, and
Europe have come together to make the James Webb spirglass over twice
as big, and nearly 100 times better than the Hubble.
Ariane 5 is a Europish starship meant to lift big loads up above Earth.
The James Webb, having the biggest glass of any spirglass taken to the
stars yet, makes it too heavy for starships smaller than the Ariane 5.
Even with a starship as big as Ariane 5, the James Webb had to be
folded up to fit inside, and will unfold once it is above Earth so it
can look out at faraway stars.