Science

NASA’s largest space telescope launch countdown has begun. The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched today on Christmas Day, December 25, and space enthusiasts can watch all the action live. The telescope is scheduled to be launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20am EST (5:50pm IST). The space agency will be streaming James Webb’s flight and live countdown commentary on NASA Live. Apart from that, NASA will also broadcast the launch on various social media channels. The James Webb Space Telescope is a successor to Hubble Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Apart from NASA Live, you can also watch the launch on NASA’s official YouTube channel.

You can watch the livestream below:

The other options to watch the live broadcast include NASA TV, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the NASA app. On Facebook, you can also join the event and engage with other people who are watching the launch.

According to a NASA blog post, the broadcast will feature spectacular scenes from the launch site in Kourou as well as commentary from experts. Viewers can also see incredible clips showing the telescope’s development, in-person talks on technology, and cutting-edge animations depicting how the telescope will unfold once it reaches space.

However, till you wait for the launch event to start, you can watch a YouTube series titled Journey to Space, showcasing the James Webb Space Telescope’s story so far.

The launch will be broadcast live from the French Guiana launch site of the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, US, and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The broadcast will continue for about an hour after the launch, and track the initial milestones post-launch.