![]() ![]() AdvertisementĪ lot of this comes down to the performance of the venerable Ariane 5 rocket. But now that should not be necessary, as Webb has at least two decades of life. ![]() Because ten years seemed like a fairly short operational period for such an expensive and capable space telescope, NASA had already been contemplating a costly and risky robotic refueling mission. So every kilogram of fuel saved on Webb's journey to the Lagrange point could be used to extend its life there. The remainder will be used at Webb's final orbit around the L2 Lagrange point for station-keeping and to maintain its orbit. Some of this fuel was needed for course adjustments along the journey to the point in space, about 1.5 million km from Earth, where Webb will conduct science observations. Prior to launch, the telescope was fueled with 240 liters of hydrazine fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. ![]() This is twice the conservative pre-launch estimate for Webb's lifetime of a decade, and it largely comes down to the performance of the European Ariane 5 rocket that launched Webb on a precise trajectory on Christmas Day. Further Reading Remarkably, NASA has completed deployment of the Webb space telescope ![]()
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