Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2022

4 MARCH-APRIL 2022 ASTRO PUBLISHING “ It has to work” was the opening statement from a 2010 article in Nature ominously titled “The tele- scope that ate astronomy.” A tele- scope that, at launch on December 25 th of last year, was over its initial budget by nearly 20-fold. 15 years late and subject to multiple delays and launch rescheduling. A major redesign in 2005. A move to cancel the project completely within the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011. Damage discovered to its del- icate sunshield during inspections and a practice deployment in 2018. Concerns about excessive vibrations during recent Ariane 5 rocket launches that risked either another delay of launch or the small possibil- ity of damage from a “less than fully nominal” delivery to space. A NASA-reported “communication issue between the observatory and the launch vehicle system” just days prior to its final scheduled launch. The Webb Space Telescope is ready to amaze us by Damian G. Allis NASA Solar System Ambassador