Santa may need to put his reindeer on high alert this Christmas Eve to ensure he doesn't collide with another high-flying object this year — NASA's long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope.
At 7:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, just as Jolly St. Nick should be delivering toys to children in the Eastern Pacific, the world's largest, most powerful space telescope is scheduled to shoot into orbit around the sun aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket launched from French Guiana.
It may be the first time Santa will need to keep his eyes on a rocket that can fly more than 10,000 miles a second that's carrying a payload weighing roughly 14,300 pounds.
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But officials at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which will begin tracking Santa across the globe beginning at 6 a.m. EST on Dec. 24, believe the old man will be ready.
“Santa is an excellent pilot, and he certainly can maneuver and dodge anything that flies his way,” NORAD spokeswoman Air Force Capt. Sable Brown told Military.com.
The launch of the telescope has been delayed several times since 2018, most recently last week when it was shifted from Dec. 22 to Christmas Eve as the result of a problem with a data cable.
NASA officials said the team is not taking any chances on getting the 30-year project into space.
“We are absolutely not taking any risks with Webb because this…
