The Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) on the James Webb Space Telescope, a mission-critical element designed and built in Canada, was used in tracking mode for the first time as part of the telescope's 18 golden hexagonal mirror alignment process.
On February 2, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques will give a presentation on health challenges in space during a conference organized by the Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau–Brunswick.
On January 24, the Webb Telescope reached it's destination. It is now orbiting around the Sun at the second Lagrange point, nearly 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth. Today, the telescope's four instruments – including the Canadian Space Agency's Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectograph (NIRISS) – and the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) will be turned on one by one. Functionality checks will be performed over the coming days.
NASA is inviting a limited number of media to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of NASA's Artemis I mission, scheduled for March 2022 at earliest.
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced the release of Resourceful, Resilient, Ready: Canada's Strategy for Satellite Earth Observation, which describes how Canada will take full advantage of the unique vantage point of space to address climate change and other key challenges of our time.
On January 20, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and Julie Dabrusin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change,will unveil Canada's strategy for satellite Earth observation, and will make a funding announcement in the Earth observation sector. They will be joined by representatives of the Canadian space sector.
NASA is inviting a limited number of media to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to see the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolling out for the first time. The SLS and Orion will be tested no earlier than mid-February 2022 in preparation for the Artemis I mission.
The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) was successfully launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The telescope, which promises to change our understanding of the universe, is an international collaboration between the Canadian Space Agency, NASA, and the European Space Agency. Through strategic investments in space research and development and our world-class expertise in astronomy, science and engineering, Canada's contribution opens tremendous science opportunities for Canadian astronomers, who will be among the first to have access to the data collected by Webb, and to study it.
On December 25, the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope ever built, is planned to launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. Media representatives can watch live coverage of the launch on NASA TV starting at 6:00 a.m. ET. The launch is scheduled for 7:20 a.m. ET.