James Webb Telescope photos are dazzling. What to know about ...

From cosmic cliffs to the birthplace of stars, the James Webb Space telescope is stunning stargazers and non-stargazers alike with its breathtaking views of a universe never glimpsed before.

The world's largest and most powerful space telescope is capturing images of thousands of galaxies – some of which formed billions of years ago after the Big Bang – and some of the faintest objects ever observed.

The telescope will explore every phase of cosmic history, NASA says.

Here's what you should know:

What do the images show?

The first pictures from the telescope, released Monday and Tuesday, show thousands of galaxies, some of which formed nearly 13.2 billion years ago. They are seen in part because the James Webb Telescope targeted a cluster called SMACS 0723, which has a gravitational field so strong it magnifies the light of older, more distant galaxies.

NASA also plans to release imagery of a “stellar nursery” where the Carina Nebula, the Southern Ring Nebula and Stephan’s Quintet formed.

See first images:What the James Webb Space Telescope has captured

Where is the James Webb Telescope now?

The Webb telescope is pretty far away – 1 million miles from Earth to be exact. It launched in December 2021 from French Guiana.

What is the James Webb Telescope?

The James Webb Space Telescope was built through an international partnership between the Canadian, European and American space agencies. It has been in development since the 1990s and, according to NASA, aims to explore cosmic history, taking a deeper look at our own galaxy and the many that came before it.

Read more NASA News:NASA 'strongly rebukes' pro-Russian separatist flag display on International Space Station

How does the telescope look back in time?

The telescope looks back in time using gravitational lensing. The latest image from the Webb telescope looks much bigger than it is: The picture is about the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length and shows only an infinitesimally small bit of our vast universe, NASA says.

But the galaxy cluster captured in the image, known as SMACS 0723, serves as a gravitational lens, bringing to light more distant galaxies. Its gravity is so strong that it distorts the light coming from other galaxies, making them appear brighter and therefore visible to us.

How long will the James Webb telescope last?

The Webb facility is expected to operate for five years but is not capped at that, and it has the materials to operate for more than 10 years, according to NASA.

Is James Webb much better than Hubble?

The James Webb telescope is the most powerful space telescope in history. It is better in resolution and detail than its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope. It has a larger collecting area and can capture longer wavelengths in infrared.

Both of these space photographers take “deep field” images, pictures with long exposure times (12½ hours in Webb's case) that allow even the most faint form of incoming light to be seen.

The Hubble Telescope, which had its own dramatic reveal in the 1990s, is now second fiddle. The James Webb telescope is designed to capture light 100 times fainter than that captured by Hubble.

Check out Hubble Telescope's discoveries:'Needle-in-a-haystack' search finds possible phantom-like black hole roaming the Milky Way

Can the James Webb Telescope see planets?

Yes! New images show a distant gas giant planet. Evidence of water, clouds and haze gave scientists an unprecedented observation point for planets hundreds of light-years beyond Earth that would be habitable.

As for the planets in our own solar system – the Webb telescope can see those too, of course. "Because it is so powerful, it has capabilities that we can apply everywhere in the cosmos, even in our local neighborhood, the solar system," said Heidi Hammel, an interdisciplinary scientist working on Webb, in an interview with Space.com.

What is the temperature of the James Webb Space Telescope?

The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)) employed by the telescope is cooled to below 7 kelvins, or minus 447 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA. Since the operation of the telescope produces heat, a cryocooler of gaseous helium is required to offset that and maintain temperature stability.

Who funded the James Webb Telescope?

The Webb telescope cost $10 billion. About $9.7 billion is from the U.S.; $810 million came from the European Space Agency; and $160 million came from the Canadian Space Agency.

JWST isn't only funding recipient:Scientists are searching the universe for signs of alien civilizations: 'Now we know where to look'

Who was the James Webb Telescope named after?

The James Webb Telescope was named after James E. Webb, who was NASA's administrator from February 1961 to October 1968. NASA's website describes Webb as the government official who did more for science than perhaps any other and a fitting recipient to be the namesake of the Next Generation Space Telescope.

Jan. 6 hearings resume with mob focus, more images from Webb ...

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Jan. 6 hearings resume, expected to examine pro-Trump mob

The House committee will take a deeper dive on how the mob came to be. Plus, Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze looks at an upcoming case that could upend election laws, health officials tell hospitals they must perform abortions in emergencies, education reporter Chris Quintana looks at the cost of college and a space telescope brings back unprecedented images from the cosmos.

Podcasts:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 12th of July, 2022. Today, the latest on January 6th. Plus, the Supreme Court could make a huge decision on elections this fall, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

New security camera footage from Uvalde gives the clearest view yet of what happened inside Robb Elementary School in the buildup and even during the massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Video shows what experts have called one of the worst police failures in American history, as officers gathered in a school hallway, increasingly armed, but not entering the classroom to take down the gunman for more than an hour. Two people were killed and three injured before dawn yesterday in shootings at four 7-Eleven stores in Southern California. Authorities said they were seeking a lone gunman in at least three of the shootings. And the father of a teenager killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting interrupted President Joe Biden yesterday during an event at the White House marking new gun legislation. The father said, "More needs to be done."

♦

January 6th committee hearings will continue today. Committee member, Congressman Adam Schiff said the panel will now focus on "The efforts to assemble that mob on the mall, who was participating, who was financing it, how it was organized." He added that the committee will give new information about the potentially critical roles played by the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in the attack. The hearing will also focus on whether anyone in the White House engaged in a seditious conspiracy with leaders of the two groups to overturn election results by storming the Capitol. Former President Donald Trump's White House counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony from Friday will also be featured. His comments come after other testimony that he tried to prevent Trump from challenging the 2020 election results and worked to stop the defeated president from joining the violent mob.

♦

The Supreme Court will consider a bombshell appeal this fall that legal experts say could fundamentally change how federal elections are run. Supreme Court correspondent, John Fritze has the details.

John Fritze:

Yeah, I mean, this is kind of a technical thing, but I think it's really important because it could have pretty big implications for how elections are run and how states make rules about elections.

In the 2020 election, there were a bunch of state courts that weighed in to sort of change the rules in response to COVID. And they did things, most notably in Pennsylvania, like saying that if your absentee ballot was postmarked by Election Day, it'd be okay if it took three or four extra days to get to the clerk's office. Because at the time, as everybody remembers, there were a lot of delays in the post office. It did things like in Rhode Island saying that you don't need to have two signatures witnesses on your absentee ballot because at the time maybe during COVID you didn't want to go out and find two people to stand next to you to sign your ballot. And so the court stepped in and made these changes.

And what conservatives say is like, "Look, you can't do that because the law is the law, and courts can't just interpret words out of the law." What the other side says is courts have always done this. They've done it for a long time and they should be able to continue doing it in limited circumstances. And what the Supreme Court will decide is who's right.

I think the most significant thing that could happen is if the Supreme Court embraces this doctrine, it's known as the independent state legislature doctrine, kind of a wonky term. But what it basically means is that state legislatures get to act alone. And what does that mean? Well, the court could fully embrace this and in that situation, basically, any other entity that's not the state legislature would have a very hard time acting as a check on the state legislature. And that includes the governor, which in most other instances, the governor would sign a law passed by the state legislature. It includes state courts, which like every other law passed by a state legislature would review what the lawmakers did, what the bill is. And it could even include federal courts to some extent, although I think that'd be pretty limited.

So in its biggest impact here, the court could say, all of these entities cannot act as a check on the state legislature when it comes to things like voting hours, early voting, absentee ballots and how those get cast, redistricting, and also by the way, which a slate of electors get sent to the electoral college for electing the president. You'll remember in 2020, President Trump and some of his allies were looking for state legislatures to send sort of a slate of electors that didn't really represent how the state voted. And that could have changed the outcome of the presidential election.

Now, no state legislature did that. And most experts that I talked to think that political pressure is unlikely to make such a thing happen. But if the Supreme Court fully embraces this, legally it could happen.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

The Department of Health and Human Services yesterday issued guidance to hospitals and doctors, reminding them of obligations to perform abortions and emergencies, regardless of state laws. In a letter to healthcare providers, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote, "Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care, including abortion care." He stressed that federal law preempts state abortion bans when it comes to emergency care.

The advisory comes just two weeks after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe versus Wade, the 1973 once landmark decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. The Biden Administration is facing strong pressure from advocates to protect access to reproductive care. President Joe Biden on Friday announced several steps, including protecting access to medication and making legal representation available to those who choose to travel out of state for the procedure.

♦

According to a USA TODAY and Public Agenda poll, Americans say they value higher education, but it's too expensive for many. Education reporter, Chris Quintana has more.

Chris Quintana:

People have conflicted feelings about college, right? People believe that college is too expensive, especially for low income people and somewhat so for middle income folks who don't benefit for financial aid. But also at the same time, there's a desire to make college more affordable and make it such that more people can go. But at the same time, there's a lot of skepticism towards the value of the degree. Only about half of the people polled think having a college education or having more people college educated could improve the economy or the nation's democracy, but at the same time, that's about half of people who don't feel that way. Right?

And so a lot of research indicates that people who have a bachelor's degree tend to be more engaged with their community, they tend to vote at higher rates. There's also a question of earnings. People with a college degree or more are likely to earn more than folks without it. And then that's just sort of born out by earnings data, right? And so it's a challenging place for people in the business of providing a college education as well.

The conversation around student loan debt is just sort of continuing to go on. And this poll also kind of addressed that as well. I think it was interesting to see that roughly 60% of Americans are in favor of canceling student loan debt when it's excessive. And what excessive means will vary from person to person. But we are seeing more support from Democrats and Republicans on that one, which is really interesting to me.

Another really interesting stat is people want college education to be available, but they don't want to be forced. So it's something about like it's close to like nine in 10 people believe you should be able to get a job without a bachelor, to find a good paying job without having to get the bachelor's degree. And I totally understand where people are coming from with that. When you look at the costs and the student loan debt associated with it.

But there's also this other piece where, if you're going to a traditional four-year college, that's like at least four years out of the workforce. And jobs are hiring really aggressively right now. And yeah, it's a challenging decision for young people at this point.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

The first image from NASA's $10 billion James Webb space telescope was released yesterday at a White House briefing. The image shows thousands of galaxies, including the faintest objects ever observed. It's the deepest view of the cosmos ever captured. President Joe Biden.

Joe Biden:

Six and a half months ago, a rocket launch from Earth carrying the world's newest, most powerful, deep space telescope on a journey 1 million miles into the cosmos. First of all, that blows my mind. A million miles into the cosmos.

Taylor Wilson:

The telescope uses a massive 21-foot mirror made up of hexagonal tiles to study the cosmos. Its main capability is infrared observation, allowing it to look through obstacles like dust clouds to see the early phases of star formation. Scientists also hope the telescope will allow them to see the atmospheric compositions of far off planets. More images are set to be released today.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whatever your favorite podcast app is. Thanks to PJ Elliot for his great work on the show and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

Hubble identifies unusual wrinkle in expansion rate of the universe ...

(CNN) Measuring the expansion rate of the universe was one of the Hubble Space Telescope's main goals when it was launched in 1990.

Over the past 30 years, the space observatory has helped scientists discover and refine that accelerating rate -- as well as uncover a mysterious wrinkle that only brand-new physics may solve.

Hubble has observed more than 40 galaxies that include pulsating stars as well as exploding stars called supernovae to measure even greater cosmic distances. Both of these phenomena help astronomers to mark astronomical distances like mile markers, which have pointed to the expansion rate.

In the quest to understand how quickly our universe expands, astronomers already made one unexpected discovery in 1998: "dark energy." This phenomenon acts as a mysterious repulsive force that accelerates the expansion rate.

And there is another twist: an unexplained difference between the expansion rate of the local universe versus that of the distant universe right after the big bang.

Read More

NASA's James Webb telescope arrives at home 1 million miles from ...

After a nail-biting 29 days of travel and ultra-precise deployments, the James Webb Space Telescope fired its thrusters one more time Monday to reach its final parking spot a million miles from Earth.

"Webb, welcome home," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement after a five-minute burn added just 3.6 mph to the telescope's speed. "Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb’s safe arrival at L2 today."

L2 refers to a kind of stable orbit known as a Lagrange point. Technically, Webb is now orbiting the sun and is staying in line with Earth about a million miles away.

"We’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can’t wait to see Webb’s first new views of the universe this summer," Nelson said.

New advancements:How the Webb Telescope will build on Hubble's observations of the universe

The arrival at L2 capped off a treacherous 29 days in which everyone involved in the $10 billion program — from scientists to NASA officials to companies involved in building the infrared telescope — readily admitted the technical challenges were daunting. Every single thing had to work perfectly in order to launch, deploy mirror segments, and reach its final position.

Mission partners NASA, the European Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency described the process as "29 days on the edge." Officials before launch said there were potentially 344 points of failure during that period.

Moving forward, engineers will spend about three months aligning Webb's 18 gold-coated hexagonal mirrors to the final configuration.

Webb uses a massive, 21-foot primary mirror made up of hexagonal tiles to study the cosmos. Its main capability is infrared observation, meaning it will be able to peer through obstacles like dust clouds to see the early phases of star formation. Scientists even hope to see the atmospheric compositions of promising far-off planets.

Webb is the successor to Hubble Space Telescope, which revolutionized science with the Hubble Deep Field that famously captured thousands of galaxies in a single image.

Total cost to NASA: $10 billion over its 25-year development history, which doesn't include costs incurred by ESA and CSA. Northrop Grumman was the prime contractor for the project while Lockheed Martin built the main infrared instrument known as Near Infrared Camera, or NIRCam.

The telescope took flight on Christmas Day with help from a European Ariane 5 rocket. The European Space Agency operates the liftoff site in French Guiana, a territory of France just north of Brazil.

Contact Emre Kelly on Twitter: @EmreKelly.

NASA's James Webb telescope launches from South America

Emre Kelly

Florida Today

The world's flagship science instrument took flight from South America early Saturday, a high-stakes mission that, from well beyond the moon, will peer deeper into the universe's 13.8 billion-year history than ever before.

Officials from three agencies and dozens of countries watched in anticipation as the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope vaulted off the pad, a European Ariane 5 rocket lighting up the Christmas Day sky in the South American territory of French Guiana. The 7:20 a.m. liftoff marked the first true test for the 10-year mission.

"Go, Webb, go!" Jean-Luc Voyer, director of operations for rocket builder Arianespace, said as he confirmed good separation of the telescope from the upper stage 27 minutes after liftoff.

Once unfurled and in its orbit beyond the moon about a million miles from Earth, Webb will use a massive, 21-foot primary mirror made up of 18 gold-coated hexagonal tiles to study the cosmos. Its standout capability is infrared observation, meaning obstacles like dust clouds won't be an issue. Scientists will be able to see the early phases of star formation and even the atmospheric compositions of promising far-off planets.

'NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE':NASA anxious to send a $10 billion telescope to space

Webb is the successor to Hubble Space Telescope, which revolutionized science with the Hubble Deep Field that famously captured thousands of galaxies in a single image. The project is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency.

Total cost to NASA: $10 billion over its 25-year development history. And that doesn't include costs incurred by ESA and CSA.

"Whenever we look at launches, they're both a beginning and an ending," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator of science, said after the launch. "They're an ending of an engineering project on the ground ... but they're the beginning of one of the most amazing missions that humanity has conceived."

Despite the nail-biter of a launch, Webb's truly dramatic moments are still ahead of it. Over the next 29 days – referred to as "29 days on the edge" – the telescope will have to perform a perfect series of maneuvers to unfurl out of its launch configuration and into the sunflower-like instrument seen in renderings.

HUBBLE'S IMAGE:NASA Hubble Space Telescope is back with a stunning image after a long mysterious glitch

Webb and other spacecraft have to be able to fold origami-style to fit in the protective payload fairings, or nose cones, of rockets. One of the reasons Ariane 5 was chosen for this mission was its larger-than-usual fairing, which measures 17.7 feet in diameter.

About 10,000 people from dozens of countries have worked on the Webb program. Some have seen their entire careers elapse just for this telescope, while others have moved onto other fields.

One thing is certain for all of them, according to Project Scientist Klaus Pontoppidan: the discoveries Webb promises will likely lead to even more questions – and people wanting to help answer them.

"Webb will probably also reveal new questions for future generations of scientists to answer, some of whom may not even be born yet," he said.

Woman with 'F--k Trump' sticker arrested day after sheriff Facebook ...

Marcelino Benito, Jason Miles and staff

KHOU-TV, Houston

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — A Texas woman who donned a "F--k Trump" sticker on her truck was released from jail Thursday night, a day after a local sheriff threatened to press charges against her for the display.

Mike Fonseca said his wife, Karen, was picked up Thursday afternoon for an outstanding warrant from August. He posted her bond Thursday night, and she was released from jail about an hour later.

Records show Karen Fonseca is accused of fraud. The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said they made the arrest after getting a tip about the warrant.

Karen Fonseca made headlines Wednesday after Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls threatened to arrest her for the anti-Trump sticker on her pickup. Records show Karen Fonseca is accused of fraud.

The sticker says “F--k Trump and f--k you for voting for him.”

Read more:Chinese rooster statue looks a lot like Trump

Nehls posted a photo of the truck on Facebook Wednesday: "I have received numerous calls regarding the offensive display on this truck as it is often seen along FM 359. If you know who owns this truck or it is yours, I would like to discuss it with you," the post read. "Our Prosecutor has informed us she would accept Disorderly Conduct charges regarding it, but I feel we could come to an agreement regarding a modification to it."

After the story went viral and thousands of commenters defended the sticker as free speech, Nehls deleted the post.

“The objective of the post was to find the owner/driver of the truck and have a conversation with them in order to prevent a potential altercation between the truck driver and those offended by the message. Since the owner of the truck has been identified, the Sheriff took down the post,” a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said Thursday.

The Fort Bend County District Attorney said his office had no plans to file charges over the sticker.

“It’s hard to believe that a simple sticker could cause so much arousal,” Fonseca said Thursday before her arrest. "I have no regrets."

She and her husband have had the sticker for nearly a year.

"I'm almost certain it does have to do with this," said Karen Fonseca after her release. "People abuse the badge, and in my opinion, money talks. When you're in politics, people know how to work the system."

NASA preps to send powerful $10 billion James Webb telescope to ...

VIERA, Fla. – The numbers are staggering: Ten billion dollars. Twenty-five years of design and development. The ability to see billions of years into the past.

But there's also this figure: 344. That's how many potential "points of failure" there are, any one of which could doom the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA scientists and officials have for decades anticipated this space-based observatory, seen as successor to the famous Hubble, and the discoveries it could bring as it peers even deeper into the universe's multibillion-year-old story.

But they are equally nervous about the precision required for its success.

Despite not even being at its eventual million-mile orbital distance from Earth, the telescope has already seen its fair share of challenges: delays caused by hardware hiccups like loose screws, work pauses due to its sheer complexity, the coronavirus pandemic, and general cost overruns leading to multiple federal investigations.

Water on Mars: Orbiter discovers 'significant amounts of water' in Grand Canyon-like area of Mars

'Moon cube!': China's moon rover spots a mysterious cube-shaped object, and the internet is intrigued

But the results its 18 gold-plated hexagonal tiles promise to help deliver could be staggering in scope – and bring a burst of public excitement not seen since the famous Hubble Deep Field that captured thousands of galaxies in a single image.

"I am almost as nervous about this launch as I was for my own launch 36 years ago," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who flew on a space shuttle mission, told FLORIDA TODAY, part of the USA TODAY Network.

If schedules hold, Webb will start its 10-year mission on Christmas Eve. A European Ariane 5 rocket is slated to launch the 13,000-pound telescope from French Guiana, located just north of Brazil, at 7:20 a.m. ET.

Points of failure

After liftoff, Webb will spend nearly a month running through post-launch checkouts and unfurling maneuvers. The three agencies responsible for the telescope – NASA, European Space Agency, and Canadian Space Agency – call it "29 days on the edge."

According to the Space Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for space activities and conducts studies, there are 22 active space telescopes operated by more than a dozen countries. Webb, however, will need to differentiate itself from those by executing the most complex set of deployment maneuvers ever attempted.

The roughly $10 billion telescope has to be folded and stowed to exact specifications in Ariane 5's payload fairing, survive the vibrations of launch, then spend 29 days unfurling into a sunflower-like telescope with a massive 72-foot sunshield below.

"There are 344 single-point failure items on this observatory," said Mike Menzel, NASA's lead systems engineer for Webb, noting that 80% of them are during that period of unfolding from its launch configuration.

Hundreds of parts will be responsible for unfolding, each one of which has to work perfectly in sequence.

"Unfolding Webb is hands-down the most complicated spacecraft activity we've ever done," Menzel said. "Then again, nothing about Webb is easy. We've never done any of this before."

The Northrop Grumman-built telescope's activities will need to follow a strict schedule of powering up, deploying the many components, and firing thrusters to reach its final destination about a million miles from Earth.

"We performed multiple deployment testing over several years on both small and full-size models," Krystal Puga, a spacecraft systems engineer at Northrop Grumman, said during a pre-launch conference. "We practiced not only deployment but the stowing process. This gives us the confidence that Webb is going to deploy successfully in orbit."

If something goes wrong during any of those processes, Webb will be on its own for now. As it stands, there are no companies or countries capable of launching a servicing mission to fix Webb in its orbit well beyond the moon. Missions like those launched in the 1990s to repair Hubble won't be possible for at least several years – assuming officials agree to fix it in the first place.

Webb's promises

Webb's 21-foot gold-coated mirror is the star of the show, but the Lockheed Martin-built Near Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, is what will enable scientists to peer through cosmic debris and dust clouds using the infrared spectrum.

Overall, the telescope is touted as being roughly 100 times more powerful than Hubble.

"This telescope is so powerful that if you were a bumble bee hovering 240,000 miles away, which is the distance from the Earth to the moon, we would be able to see you," said John Mather, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

But what specifically do scientists want with such a powerful telescope unencumbered by Earth's volatile atmosphere and light pollution? To look at everything there is to see.

"We want to know how we got here from the Big Bang," Mather said. "So we'll look. We have ideas, we have predictions, but we don't honestly know."

From the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies to our solar system and life itself, Mather said the universe's 13.8 billion-year-long story is nowhere near being told. Webb's infrared imager means scientists can peer not only farther than ever before, but also deep into clouds of gas and dust that eventually give birth to stars.

"Dark areas of dust are obscuring our view of those earliest times when the stars are growing. But we can see them with infrared. Infrared light will go around the dust grains instead of bouncing off," Mather said. "It's one of our top goals to see how stars grow with their young planets."

All in all, some 10,000 people have worked to make Webb possible. Some started early on and have since moved onto other careers or fields; others have stayed with the program throughout.

"We're about to go on this amazing journey of discovery and we really mean discovery because Webb has this broad power to reveal the unexpected," said Project Scientist Klaus Pontoppidan, noting that Hubble's discoveries created entirely new fields of study. "We think Webb will be no different."

"Webb will probably also reveal new questions for future generations of scientists to answer, some of whom may not even be born yet."

Follow Emre Kelly on Twitter: @EmreKelly.

Launch Friday, Dec. 24

James Webb Space Telescope reaches milestone orbit beyond the ...

(CNN) The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final destination, almost a month after launch.

The telescope's point of observation is nearly a million miles away from Earth and beyond the moon itself. The space observatory experienced its final burn on Monday to enter this orbit called L2.

"Webb, welcome home!" said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. "Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb's safe arrival at L2 today. We're one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can't wait to see Webb's first new views of the universe this summer!"

Although it doesn't sound like it would take almost a month for the telescope to reach orbit, Webb is unique.

Read More

A cheap vacation in the Riviera? Try Albania

David A. Andelman

Special for USA TODAY

SARANDA, Albania -- Nestled in the remote eastern corner of the Adriatic, where it joins the Ionian Sea, is a 125-mile stretch of beachfront real estate unlike most others in the world. This little-known edge of Europe is called the Albanian Riviera. It differs sharply from its counterparts, the French and Italian Rivieras, by its cost — a week there could give you barely a few hours in its snazzier, snootier namesakes.

Certainly there are other vacation beach fronts along the brilliant blue waters of the Adriatic: the increasingly popular Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, for example. But few visitors uncover the beauty and simplicity of Albania, which at one time was Europe's most thuggish communist gulag but is now America's most slavishly devoted ally on the continent.

While the Albanian seaside scenery is quite extraordinary, above all the area is cheap — easily one-tenth the cost of its French and Italian counterparts and half the cost of the Croatian coast.

Seafood, caught that very morning, is served at beachfront cafes and grilled to perfection before your eyes for less than $8 per person. Fresh fruits and vegetables, grown in roadside fields, are for sale at stands for pennies. In the hills behind the charming little coastal villages are towns that date back to Greek and Roman times.

My wife, Pamela, and I begin our trip from the north in the capital, Tirana, an hour's drive east of Durrës and work our way down the coast. Durrës is effectively Albania's Marseilles, a thriving commercial container-seaport. Boats have been landing here since at least the seventh century BC. The Roman imprint is still visible in a mini-coliseum built to entertain those ancient colonizers. The Amfiteatri, at barely a third the size of Rome's Coliseum, is a pocket-sized replica uncovered only in 1966. Today, modern apartments surround it.

Pamela rushes down into the grottoes, with me in tow, arriving in a series of "green rooms" for the Roman gladiators, who could see through tiny slit windows up into the arena where they'd shortly emerge before 15,000 cheering, bloodthirsty fans. It's a chilling experience in more ways than one, and a relief from the 80-degree heat above ground.

Once we pull out of town headed south, we get our first real taste of the coast and its beachfront. Much like Nice or some other Riviera towns, there are stretches where new apartments face the sea (and go for less than $100,000). They're lined with sand-and-pebble beaches.

To the left, we spot the first of thousands of small domed, concrete pillboxes set into the hills. They're among the few visible legacies of Enver Hoxha, the paranoid communist dictator, who'd counted on them to repel invasions from the sea that he saw as imminent. Other similar legacies remain. Embedded in the rocky hills lining the tiny inlet of Porto Palermo halfway down the coast are two deep tunnels — safe havens for the Albanian submarine fleet.

We make nightfall at the town of Vlora, mid-point of the coast and check into the Hotel Vlora International. Although its balconies overlook the Adriatic, right in front of it we spy a newly renovated vest-pocket jewel, the Bologna (for a third the price), which is just accepting its first guests and from whose terrace we can step right onto the seashore. So that night, we dine at the Bologna's seaside café. We leave our choice of dishes — whatever has been caught that afternoon — to the young English-speaking waiter, one of scores of college students eager to try out the language on "real" Americans. We're not disappointed. As we watch two old men reel in their dinner from the beach in front of us, dish after dish appears — thinly sliced carpaccio of octopus marinated in native olive oil, a huge steaming bowl of fresh mussels and a platter of whole grilled redfish that we easily fillet.

Seafood is certainly the food of choice, and the next day, as we work our way down the coast toward the Riviera's southern anchor at Saranda, we fly past tiny seafront cafes interspersed with beaches lined with chaise lounges and colorful beach umbrellas — all largely empty in the early summer days. We're eager to reach Saranda since a half hour outside of town is the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrint, whose impeccably preserved or restored remains span more than 2,500 years. Past the row of olive trees and a 16th-century watch tower, built by the Venetians, who then ruled the Adriatic, to ward off Ottoman attacks, we stumble into a 3rd-century B.C. Greek theater. The town spirals outward from there as it changed hands to the Romans, who built bathhouses and villas four centuries later. We stand at what would have been the theater's center stage, my actress wife gazing up in awe at what might have been an appreciative audience.

That afternoon, back in Saranda, we stumble on another ancient site — Mosaica, a 5th-century synagogue complex that was once the center of a thriving Jewish community, including a Yeshiva. From there, it's a short stroll down to the palm tree-dotted concrete boardwalk that winds along the beachfront, lined with yellow awnings and delightful cafes.

We return to Tirana through the mountainous interior, stopping off in Gjirokastra, another UNESCO World Heritage site whose striking stone homes date back 200 years. We begin with the hilltop citadel. As we poke our heads into ancient stone prison cells, used most recently by Hoxha's communist secret police, we stumble upon an American woman of Albanian origin, whose father himself had been imprisoned here for nearly four decades for being a threat to the state. Together we stroll through the castle, emerging finally on a small grassy knoll where the hulk of a World War II-vintage American jet trainer is resting. An American spy plane brought down by the Albanian air force was the story at the time. The truth is more mundane: it developed engine trouble, was forced to land at a nearby airfield, was then seized and the pilot quickly released.

Heading "home," we encounter some truly challenging roads in the process of being rebuilt or desperately needing work. So there are two choices for visitors. Wait just a few years until it's smooth-sailing from end-to-end with prices to match. Or visit now when there are still gems to be uncovered for a song.

If you go

Getting there: You can fly into the capital, Tirana, and rent a car (there are trains and buses but they are painfully slow). Avis, Hertz and Eurocar all operate there. You can also fly into the Greek island of Corfu and take a hydrofoil ferry to Saranda (a 30-minute trip) which, depending on the time of year, ranges from $25 to $40 each way. There are also ferries that take both cars and passengers from Brindisi, Italy, to Vlora, though round-trip by car costs more than $400, compared with barely $100 for a passenger, so you're better off renting the car on the Albanian side.

Most of the coastal towns are sufficiently compact that you can easily walk from end to end, but taxis are also available and a trip from town down the coast to a seaside bistro is less than $10. Make sure you have small bills since few can change large denominations.

Where to stay: If you are staying for a week or more, you may want to make your base in one of the hundreds of apartments that face the Adriatic. Companies like Rent Holiday Homes have apartments ranging from $30 a day to $900 a week depending on the size and the season, with discounts as high as 25% for multiple weeks in low season. For hotels, try the Vlora International where a double with an ocean view ranges from $80 to $120. The smaller, recently renovated Hotel Bologna is half the price. For a real bargain, try the Hotel Paradise Beach, 10 miles south of Vlora, for for $27 to $55 a night. Nearby, at the Sunny Beach Hotel, a family room with fridge that sleeps four is $80 in high season ($20 in off season) per day, or $33 a day when booked by the month. It's difficult to book in an advance for any but the top hotels, since many don't have a website. But all are family-run and if they can't accommodate you, they will lean over backwards to find you a congenial spot nearby. In Saranda, the Hotel Butrinti, at $90 to $120 a night, is just across the road from a beach and some lovely beachside cafes. It's within easy walking distance of the town center and has a magnificent view across the bay to Corfu from the balconies in most of its rooms, which are small.

Where to eat: Just about any place along a beach has fresh-caught fish and shellfish. For the most part, stay away from the hotel dining rooms which are expensive with spotty service. The exception is the wonderful beachfront café of the Hotel Bologna in Vlora where fresh seafood is the order of the day. About 12 miles down the coast road from Vlora is the Ibiza restaurant where a meal of squid, octopus, clams, mussels and fresh tomatoes followed with homemade cinnamon ice cream with fresh strawberries costs about $25 for three. Atop a hill overlooking Saranda and its harbor is the 16th-century Castle of Lëkurësi with a marvelous bar/restaurant, where during the high season service is out on the spacious terrace overlooking the countryside and the Adriatic far below. There you can feast on seafood and grilled meat for $10-$15 a person. The Italian influence in the region is quite clear and there are pizza joints up and down the coast. Choose one on the beach overlooking a beautiful view of the Adriatic, like the Pizzeria Limani in front of the Butrinti Hotel. Thin crust with fresh toppings goes for less than $10 for an enormous pie that serves two or three healthy appetites.

For more information:albaniantourism.com

David A. Andelman a former New York Times and CBS News correspondent, is the editor in chief of World Policy Journal and author of A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today.

Southern Hills: All-time best often crowned in dull fashion

AP

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — About a month before Dave Stockton won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, his father gave him the self-help classic “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz, and he went through page by page highlighting various passages.

“It was not a fun read,” Stockton said. “It was like reading sandpaper.”

He came away with two tangible ideas, though, that applied perfectly to golf. The first was simple: Be aggressive. The second was something athletes have championed for decades: Visualize that you have already won.

“So rather than coming out here and hoping that I played well, hoping I made the cut, all these different things, I stepped on the first tee on Monday morning at about 7:00 — because I finished by 10:45 — and I visualized I had already won the tournament,” Stockton said. “My mindset was I had already won it and I was going to go out and enjoy it.”

He made it seem that easy, too. Stockton was tied for the lead after the second round, led Raymond Floyd by three after the third and coasted to a two-shot win over Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy in the 1970 championship.

In doing so, Stockton helped shape what has become a recurring theme at Southern Hills: The venerable Perry Maxwell layout near downtown Tulsa has crowned some of the game's greatest players during more major championships than just about any other American venue, and for the most part, they've been a dreadful bore.

In four previous PGA Championships and three U.S. Opens, Stockton and Tiger Woods are the only ones who did not have at least a share of the lead after the opening round. And none were out of the lead heading into the final round.

Oklahoma native Tommy Bolt led after every round at the 1958 U.S. Open, turning a three-shot lead over Gene Littler after the third into a four-shot win over Gary Player by the end. It wound up being Bolt's only major, though he also played two Ryder Cups and, like everyone else but Stockton who have won at Southern Hills, ended up in the Hall of Fame.

Hubert Green also had at least a share of the lead for every round of the 1977 U.S. Open, holding off Lou Graham by a shot on Sunday. But that tournament is best remembered for what few knew at the time: There'd been a phone call threatening to assassinate Green if he played the 15th hole. He courageously did anyway on his way to his first major title.

Nearing his 40th birthday, Floyd likewise went wire-to-wire at the 1982 PGA Championship, finishing three clear of former champion Lanny Wadkins. He opened with a 63 and was never really threatened the rest of the week.

Nick Price might have had the easiest way with the field in 1994.

Sure, he was tied for the first-round lead with Colin Montgomerie, but he was five shots clear of everyone else after the second round. Price went on to finish 11 under for a six-shot lead over Corey Pavin, becoming the first player to capture the British Open and the PGA in the same year in seven decades.

When majors returned to Southern Hills in 2001, Retief Goosen needed a Monday playoff with Mark Brooks to win the first of his two U.S. Opens. Thrilling in theory, but nobody seemed to want to win on Sunday. Goosen ran a 10-footer past for birdie on the 72nd hole, then missed a 2-footer coming back, leaving him tied with Brooks, who had bogeyed his final hole. And both were a shot clear of Stewart Cink, who missed his own 2-footer to join the playoff.

There were two dominant story lines the last time the PGA Championship was at Southern Hills.

The first was the heat, which neared or exceeded triple digits all four days. The other was Woods, who seized control with a second-round 63. He led by as many as five in the third and fourth rounds before finishing ahead of a largely forgettable cast of characters that included Woody Austin, Aaron Oberholser and John Senden.

“I remember playing behind (John Daly) the first day, which was awesome,” Woods recalled this week. “It was, what, 109 I think that first day? And I asked JD how many waters he drank out there. He said, ‘No, I had 13 Diet Cokes.’”

Memorable stuff, indeed.

There are reasons to believe Southern Hills will finally produce a classic this week, though. The field has 95 of the top 100 in the world even after Bryson DeChambeau withdrew late Wednesday. The course itself has had an extensive restoration, returning it to its former glory. The forecast looks clear and pleasant for most of the week.

“It's tough. It's going to be really hard,” said Xander Schauffele, the Olympic gold medalist, who had two top-10s in majors last year. “I think PGA Championships for the most part, people feel like you can kind of shoot lower in them than most majors. But I think this year is going to be a different story.”

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