- NASA's James Webb Space Telescope just reached its destination in orbit 1 million miles from Earth.
- The massive telescope was launched into space in December and successfully unfolded earlier this month.
- The James Webb telescope will capture never-before-seen pictures of the early universe.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope just reached its destination in orbit 1 million miles from Earth, NASA announced.
The massive telescope will orbit around the sun, trailing Earth by 1 million miles in a stable orbit in the area known as the 2nd Lagrange point (L2).
—NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) January 24, 2022
"Webb, welcome home!" said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb's safe arrival at L2 today. We're one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can't wait to see Webb's first new views of the universe this summer!"
The telescope was launched into space last month, then successfully unfolded earlier in January. The telescope will not capture any images for at least another five months.
The device is more than 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope which was launched in 1990.
NASA hopes the James Webb telescope will fill in the gaps in the history of the universe.
Scientists have discovered galaxies from 400 million years after the Big Bang, but the James Webb telescope will peer even deeper into the universe's history to the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang, Insider previously reported.
"This orbit will allow a wide view of the cosmos at any given moment. I'm so excited to see what's uncovered as Webb begins to send images back this summer," NASA's Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said.
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