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Alignment of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now complete. After full review, the observatory has been confirmed to be capable of capturing crisp, well-focused images with each of its four powerful onboard science instruments. Upon completing the seventh and final stage of telescope alignment, the team held a set of key decision meetings and unanimously agreed that Webb is ready to move forward into its next and final series of preparations, known as science instrument commissioning. This process will take about two months before scientific operations begin in the summer.The alignment of the telescope across all of Webb’s instruments...

High Flight  The first time I heard this poem was watching a TV station sign off during the 1970s, such as shown in the video clip below. It was much later that I learned the story behind it and how I would be personally affected by it. In the summer and through the fall of 1940, the Battle of Britain was waging and the London Blitz demoralizing this one island nation that did break as Hitler's juggernaut was steamrolling across the rest of Europe. During such desperate times, Sir Winston Churchill gave his famous speech: Their Finest Hour Before...