NASA this week announced James Webb Space Telescope has made its first direct image of an exoplanet. Discovered by the Very Large Telescope in Chile in 2017 and cataloged as HIP 65426 b, it is one of more than 5,000 known exoplanets, and although it is not the first exoplanet to be directly imaged, Webb’s position outside Earth’s distorting atmosphere along with its powerful instruments have enabled the most accurate measurements of this object yet. Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) are each equipped with a coronagraph, which can block out light from the host star to see the planet, which is about 10,000 times fainter, and 100 times further away than Earth is from our sun. Direct images of planets help scientists understand the physics, chemistry, and formation of these objects, and with so many targets out there more discoveries are sure to be made.

NASA’s first launch attempt of the Artemis I mission Monday was “scrubbed” due to technical issues with the giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Specifically, a temperature sensor in one of four main engines in the core stage of the rocket was reading an unacceptable value. In a somewhat counterintuitive manner, the engines actually need to be cooled down rather than warmed up before igniting. In fact, the operating temperature for the RS-25 engines is -420 Fahrenheit as they consume cryogenic propellent to create thrust, which exits the nozzle at about 6,000 degrees. After studying the data, engineers believe all four engines were actually cooled to the correct temperature and the sensor is faulty, and as such will proceed with another launch attempt rather than replace the sensor. Launching a new rocket carries a significant amount of inherent risk and mission managers are taking the “We’ll launch when we’re ready” approach. The next launch attempt is Saturday at 2:17PM EDT.