On this day – December 25

Posted on By Barb Sande

The events on this day in history for our heritage companies are noted below.

Only one event, in 2021

Human Spaceflight:

NONE

Military and Classified Programs:

NONE

Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:

2021 – LAUNCH: James Webb Space Telescope, Ariane V ECA, ELA3, Kourou, French Guiana – Includes major instrument NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) built by LM 

Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:

NONE

Commercial Programs:

NONE

Test, ICBM, FBM programs:

NONE

Other:

NONE

The only event on this day was the launch of the James Webb Telescope in 2021.  The photos today include that launch, the telescope assembly after environmental testing, and photos of the NIRCam instrument, built by LM in Palo Alto.  I have also included the NIRCam filter spectrum chart, a diagram of NIRCam and an early image using this instrument of the Cliffs of Creation in Eta Carina.  All of these images and diagrams were cleared for public release by NASA. 

Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe’s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
JWST during system environmental testing. Image Credit: NASA
NIRCam instrument undergoing assembly. Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin/NASA
Another view of the NIRCam instrument. Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin/NASA
Diagram of the NIRCam instrument. Image Credit: NASA
Spectral Filter wavelengths NIRCam. Image Credit: NASA
What looks much like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, the region is actually the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, roughly 7,600 light-years away. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the centre of the bubble, above the area shown in this image. The high-energy radiation from these stars is sculpting the nebula’s wall by slowly eroding it away. NIRCam – with its crisp resolution and unparalleled sensitivity – unveils hundreds of previously hidden stars, and even numerous background galaxies. Several prominent features in this image are described below. The “steam” that appears to rise from the celestial “mountains” is actually hot, ionised gas and hot dust streaming away from the nebula due to intense, ultraviolet radiation. Dramatic pillars rise above the glowing wall of gas, resisting the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the young stars. Bubbles and cavities are being blown by the intense radiation and stellar winds of newborn stars. Protostellar jets and outflows, which appear in gold, shoot from dust-enshrouded, nascent stars. A “blow-out” erupts at the top-centre of the ridge, spewing gas and dust into the interstellar medium. An unusual “arch” appears, looking like a bent-over cylinder. This period of very early star formation is difficult to capture because, for an individual star, it lasts only about 50,000 to 100,000 years – but Webb’s extreme sensitivity and exquisite spatial resolution have chronicled this rare event. Located roughly 7,600 light-years away, NGC 3324 was first catalogued by James D
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