New space telescope reaches final stop million miles out

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The world’s biggest and most powerful space telescope has reached its final destination 1 million miles away. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fired its rocket thrusters Monday, one month after launching on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe. The maneuver put the $10 billion observatory into orbit around the sun at a spot where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance. So little fuel is needed as the spacecraft flies in tandem with Earth, continually facing the planet’s night side to keep the infrared detectors super cold. Webb’s mirrors must still be aligned before science observations can begin in June.