The New York TimesThe New York Times

James Webb Space Telescope Launch Is Making Astronomers Very Anxious

By Dennis Overbye

14 Dec 2021 · 5 min read

What do astronomers eat for breakfast on the day that their $10 billion telescope launches into space? Their fingernails.

“You work for years and it all goes up in a puff of smoke,” said Marcia Rieke of the University of Arizona.

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