On Monday, the James Webb Space Telescope successfully entered an orbit around Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a point in space almost a million miles away from Earth. L2 is one of five locations in space where stable or nearly stable gravitational zones are formed by the interactions between the sun and Earth. As planned, the telescope was launched on Christmas Day by the European Ariane 5 rocket, which placed it on a trajectory requiring only a slight push to reach L2. The push was provided by a 4-minute 57-second thruster firing that increased the telescope’s velocity by 3.6 mph and enabled it to enter a six-month orbit around L2. In a blog post, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated the team for their hard work in ensuring the telescope’s safe arrival at L2, saying “Webb, welcome home!” He also expressed excitement for the telescope’s first new views of the universe this summer. The location of L2 allows spacecraft to remain in lockstep with Earth and orbit the sun with minimal rocket fuel, enabling a longer operational lifetime. According to Keith Parrish, Webb’s commissioning manager, the telescope’s launch and two subsequent trajectory corrections were so precise that the small orbit insertion burn on Monday left the observatory with more than enough propellant to exceed its design life. Parrish believes that Webb will exceed its 10-year design life and possibly operate for up to 20 years. Orbiting L2 also enables Webb to observe the universe with its sunshade broadside to the sun and its optics and instruments on the cold side.