With lift-off now scheduled for 18 December, the NASA team of engineers and other specialists who built the international James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)—including its innovative, infrared optics system—will enjoy a brief pause in their work as the instrument undergoes final preparations for launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.No doubt, some members of the JWST team from the US, Canada, and Europe, will be holding their collective breath. Expectations f...