Webb telescope launch again pushed back

The James Webb Space Telescope launch has been pushed back a third time due to adverse weather. —NASA via AP)

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which astronomers hope will herald a new era of discovery, was again pushed back Tuesday until at least Christmas Day due to "adverse weather conditions" at the launch site in French Guiana, NASA said.

The new target date, if determined to be viable, would be an actual Christmas gift for scientists who have been waiting three decades to see the largest and most powerful telescope take off for space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.