NASA has delayed the launch of its new James Webb Space Telescope following an “incident” that happened affecting its connection to the rocket.
The $10bn (£7.5bn) telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory that will will provide next-generation discoveries based on the work of the Hubble Space Telescope.
But its launch from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana – the base of operations for the European Space Agency – has now been pushed back until 22 December at the earliest.
NASA said: “The incident occurred during operations at the satellite preparation facility in Kourou, French Guiana, performed under Arianespace overall responsibility.
“Technicians were preparing to attach Webb to the launch vehicle adapter, which is used to integrate the observatory with the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket.
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“A sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band – which secures Webb to the launch vehicle adapter – caused a vibration throughout the observatory,” the space agency added.
An anomaly review board led by NASA has been investigating what happened ever since, and a further update is expected when testing finishes at the end of this week.
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It follows further delays and additional expenses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to NASA.
The aim is for the orbiting telescope to succeed both the Hubble Space Telescope which was launched in 1990 – and is expected to be in service until 2040 – and the Spitzer Telescope which was launched in 2003.
When the launch does take place it will herald a new era in space science, and offers NASA the opportunity to publish new images such as those captured by Hubble which have inspired so many people’s imaginations.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is intended to “examine every phase of cosmic history: from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our solar system”.
By examining infrared light the JWST will directly observe a part of space and time (which are not distinct qualities according to special relativity) that humanity has never been able to see before.
It will gaze deep into the past, back when the very first stars were forming over 13.5 billion years ago – because it is able to see the light emitted back then which has been stretched or “redshifted” by the continual expansion of the universe.
The JWST is the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever constructed by NASA, and after being launched it will travel to an orbit about a million miles away from Earth before undergoing six months of commissioning in space.
During this period its mirrors and sunshield will unfold, and its smaller systems will need to be brought online too – it will need to be cooled, aligned, and calibrated.
Once all this is done, astronomers around the world will be able to use the telescope to conduct scientific observations and broaden humanity’s understanding of the universe.
Hundreds of homes have been damaged and nearly 10,000 are without power after a tornado smashed through parts of Omaha, in the US state of Nebraska.
A number of tornadoes were reported in the state but the worst hit the suburbs to the northwest of the city, which has a population of 485,000.
The homes damaged were mostly in the Elkhorn area, police said, and emergency workers were going door-to-door to help people trapped in the debris.
Elkhorn residents Pat and Kim Woods said they took shelter when the tornado was about 200 yards away.
“We could hear it coming through,” Mr Woods said.
“When we came up, our fence was gone and we looked to the northwest and the whole neighbourhood’s gone.”
Mrs Woods added: “The whole neighbourhood just to the north of us is pretty flattened.”
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But while some homes in the area were destroyed, others appeared untouched.
There were no reports of deaths but a number of people suffered minor injuries, according to Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer, who added: “People had warnings of this and that saved lives.”
One of the other tornados passed through parts of Eppley Airfield, the city’s airport, which was closed for almost an hour.
Passengers were sent to storm shelters, according to Omaha Airport Authority Chief Strategy Officer Steve McCoy.
The terminal was not affected but other airport buildings “sustained damage”.
The airport has now reopened, although flight delays are expected late into Friday.
The tornado then crossed the Missouri River into Iowa, where damage reports are still coming through.
Daniel Fienhold, who owns a steakhouse in Crescent, Iowa, said he watched the weather from outside with his daughter and employees.
“It started raining, and then it started hailing, and then all the clouds started to kind of swirl and come together, and as soon as the wind started to pick up, that’s when I headed for the basement, but we never saw it,” he said.
Three workers at an industrial plant were injured when another tornado struck near the Nebraska city of Lincoln on Friday afternoon.
The building collapsed with around 70 people inside and several had to be rescued from the debris.
The weekend is not likely to bring any relief – The Weather Service has issued tornado watches across parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
Student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza continue to spread across the US, following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
There have been nearly 550 protest-related arrests in the past week at major US universities, according to a tally by news agency Reuters.
The students want universities to cut ties with companies helping Israel’s war in Gaza and, in some cases, with Israel itself.
Some universities have called in police to end the demonstrations, resulting in clashes and arrests, while others appear to be biding their time as the academic semester enters its final days.
The University of Southern California cancelled its main graduation ceremony, set for 10 May, after the arrests of 93 people at the Los Angeles campus on Wednesday.
At Boston’s Emerson College, 108 people were arrested overnight with video showing students linking arms to resist officers, who then moved forcefully through the crowd, throwing some students to the ground.
Student protester Ocean Muir said: “There were just more cops on all sides.
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“It felt like we were being slowly pushed in and crushed.”
She said police lifted her by her arms and legs to carry her away and she was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
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At Emory University’s Atlanta campus, 28 people were detained and the local branch of activist group Jewish Voice For Peace said police used tear gas and tasers on protesters.
Police there admitted using “chemical irritants” but denied using rubber bullets.
Cheryl Elliott, Emory’s vice president for public safety, said the aim was to clear the area of a “disruptive encampment while holding individuals accountable to the law” but human rights groups questioned the “apparent use of excessive force” against free speech.
Charges were dropped, meanwhile, against 46 of the 60 people detained by police at the University of Texas.
At Indiana University Bloomington, police with shields and batons shoved into a line of protesters, arresting 33 people.
At City College of New York, police officers retreated from protests, to cheers from the hundreds of students gathered on the lawn on the Harlem campus.
At California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt, students have been barricaded in a campus building since Monday, with staff trying to negotiate.
At University of Connecticut one protester was arrested and tents torn down, while protests continued at Stanford University and the New Jersey campus of Princeton University.
Police cleared tents and arrested more than 100 people last week but students put the tents up again in an area where graduation ceremonies will be held in a few weeks.
The administration has given protesters until Friday to leave.
There have been accusations that some pro-Palestinian protesters have harassed or abused Jewish students but protesters blame outsiders trying to infiltrate and malign their movement.
Protest leaders admit there has been abuse directed at Jewish students but insist the protests are not antisemitic.
Some of the universities have seen counter-protests from Israel supporters.
The hearing at the Supreme Court concerned the 6 January riots, election subversion and Trump’s alleged involvement. It is a crime against democracy, at the serious end of the legal jeopardy he faces.
His lawyers argued he should be shielded by immunity from prosecution for what he did while acting as president.
The prosecution’s case is that he was acting as a private citizen, not in an official capacity.
Trump wasn’t present at the hearing in Washington DC, but he will have liked what he heard.
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The prevailing legal assessment is that discussions with the nine-judge panel indicate that, while they didn’t necessarily agree with his argument for immunity, they have enough questions to delay the prosecution further.
A majority appear to think that presidents have some immunity from criminal prosecution for their official actions, even if the exact parameters are unclear.
What is clear is that if the trial court is instructed to determine which of Trump’s allegedly illegal acts qualify for immunity as official acts, it will be an extended process that could easily push the trial beyond the November election.
Such a scenario would suit Trump. The less criminal exposure he has before America votes, the better for him.
If he can push the trial past November, and win back the White House, he can use the power of office to make the charges go away.
The New York hush money trial is the only one of four criminal prosecutions to have begun.
The Supreme Court appears set to shorten the odds on it being the only one before America goes to the polls.
It is the pressing matter of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the man who would be president, and it’s a race against time.
This stress test of the fundamentals of American democracy and rule of law gets ever more stressful.