James Webb Space Telescope

Beeker · 15-09-2011 6:45am #1

Finally some good news for the troubled james Webb Space telescope. JWST:)
http://news.discovery.com/space/james-webb-space-telescope-saved-110914.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Rubecula · 15-09-2011 3:27pm

The JWT is something special. If we can look back at Hubble and see how much it has changed our view of the universe, we can only imagine what this space telescope will be capable of. I can't wait.

namloc1980 · 15-09-2011 7:21pm

While the JWST is an awesome project, it seems likely that money will be cut from other NASA programs such as planetary exploration missions which is not good news.

namloc1980 · 21-11-2011 11:55pm

JWT has been saved for at least another year as the 2012 NASA budget has been approved and signed off. Link

The good news is that it got an additional $530m to keep it ticking along for the next year however the bad news is that $380m will have to be cut from other missions and programs to fund it.

_Tombstone_ · 17-08-2015 5:34am

Webbs Successor. Planning for a 2030 launch, the High Def Telescope.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/science/space/the-telescope-of-the-2030s.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

josip · 31-03-2017 11:37am

More testing.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39420974

Which made me wonder. The amount of testing they're would be expected to reduce the risk of failure to what? 0.1%, 0.01%? I expect that they have some metric to measure test case coverage.

But to get it into space they have to put it on an Ariane 5 which has an 87/91 success rate (95.6%)

They really must hate launch day.

Beeker · 02-04-2017 2:58pm

josip wrote: »

More testing.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39420974

Which made me wonder. The amount of testing they're would be expected to reduce the risk of failure to what? 0.1%, 0.01%? I expect that they have some metric to measure test case coverage.

But to get it into space they have to put it on an Ariane 5 which has an 87/91 success rate (95.6%)

They really must hate launch day.

Launch is always a tense time for any mission especially after years of work and testing. This telescope has received an enormous amount of testing and retesting because unlike Hubble it cannot be visited by astronauts to repair or upgrade. Once it goes up that's it, its on its own.

iguot · 04-04-2017 12:36am

This is a yoke some 3 lettered spy agency had left over, theirs heaps of them up their looking down already, to much faffing about getting this up. Someones cleaning up as usual.

Capt'n Midnight · 04-04-2017 7:42pm

iguot wrote: »

This is a yoke some 3 lettered spy agency had left over, theirs heaps of them up their looking down already, to much faffing about getting this up. Someones cleaning up as usual.

No, you are thinking of Hubble and the KH series.

iguot · 04-04-2017 8:50pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

No, you are thinking of Hubble and the KH series.

It's actually the one after the james webb im thinking of, the WFIRST.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/02/18/nasa-moves-forward-with-mission-using-spy-satellite-telescope/

josip · 26-01-2018 3:33pm

JWST people won't have liked to hear about the anomaly and the "less than perfect" (wrong?) orbit

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42623297

Capt'n Midnight · 26-01-2018 5:56pm

josip wrote: »

JWST people won't have liked to hear about the anomaly and the "less than perfect" (wrong?) orbit

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42623297

Control freaks.

It'll get there in the end :pac:

josip · 29-03-2018 12:09am

Well they won't have to worry about that until 2020 at the earliest now.
At this rate ITER will be up and running before it.
The more often I read about its size and the engineering needed to fold it up, the more nervous I get that there won't be a glitch of some sort.
No such concerns about TESS, Kepler's replacement though.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/28/us/tess-exoplanet-mission-nasa/index.html

Is there a thread about it already on here?
I'm surprised that it's gotten so close to the launch date without much publicity.
I suppose Space X have been hogging all the available airtime recently.

Rubecula · 29-03-2018 12:42am

all these delays

ThunderCat · 29-03-2018 10:48am

Rubecula wrote: »

all these delays

I don't mind as long as it gets up there ok and works. Sure the way the weeks and months fly by the revised launch date will be upon us before we know it.

josip · 29-03-2018 11:27am

ThunderCat wrote: »

I don't mind as long as it gets up there ok and works. Sure the way the weeks and months fly by the revised launch date will be upon us before we know it.

I went to see the mock up that was on display in Kilmainham in 2007, the year it was first supposed to launch.
I have been waiting patiently ever since.

slade_x · 13-04-2018 5:59am

Just noticed this posted.

NASA announces James Webb Space Telescope Independent Review Board members

NASA recently announced the formation of an external Independent Review Board for the space agency’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The board will study a variety of factors impacting the mission’s success and reinforce NASA’s strategy for completing the observatory’s final integration and testing phase, launch phase and commissioning.

“We are exploring every aspect of Webb’s final testing and integration to ensure a successful mission.......................

Read more at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/space-observatories/nasa-announces-james-webb-space-telescope-independent-review-board-members/#24glQGqJPcMbHmGs.99

................In March, NASA announced a delay of at least a six months from late 2019 to sometime in 2020 for the launch of the Webb telescope, citing the need for extensive testing and integration of its parts. The postponement could also increase the cost of the telescope beyond the congressionally mandated $8 billion cap. Should that happen, the project will need to get re-authorization by Congress

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/missions/space-observatories/nasa-announces-james-webb-space-telescope-independent-review-board-members/

On the Subject of New telescopes ahead the following may be of interest:

http://earthsky.org/space/up-and-coming-extremely-large-telescopes-webb

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is first on the list

European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) - It’s expected to see first light in 2024.

Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) - First light for the GMT is estimated for 2023.

Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) - First light for the TMT might now come as early as the mid to late 2020s, There are already three other large telescopes on Maunakea. If the TMT’s planners and partners are unable to begin construction by April of 2018, the team says it might decide to abandon the location on Maunakea and instead begin construction at its backup site in the Canary Islands.

Josip007 · 20-04-2018 6:40am

[font=Open Sans, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Speaking to the young people in the audience, Dr. Tyson said, “If you’re 12 years old now, you’ll be our age by the time it happens, and then you will be carrying the torch.”[/font]

Josip007 · 25-04-2018 6:16pm

[font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Incredible. I really hope it deploys without complications. I don't think I'm smart enough to understand the massive amount of effort and skill that went into constructing this beautiful observatory, but thanks for all your hard work people![/font]

Rubecula · 26-04-2018 3:04am

I think it was designed to be foldable by a computer with an origami program.

namloc1980 · 27-06-2018 9:29pm

Launch has been pushed back now to March 2021.

Rubecula · 28-06-2018 12:28am

it will never happen - cue conspiracy theorists

Capt'n Midnight · 28-06-2018 10:53pm

was supposed to launch in 2007

anyway's the delay is going to cost a billion more

“The cost of this delay (from 2018) is estimated by the IRB (Independent Review Board) to be $1 billion,” Young said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “This 29-month delay is caused by five factors: human errors, embedded problems, lack of experience in areas such as the sunshield, excessive optimism, and systems complexity.”

Looks like either Northrop Grumman screwed up royally or they are getting funding for black projects :pac:

In one example, technicians used the wrong solvent to clean propulsion valves on the spacecraft, damaging the sensitive components. Northrop Grumman should have checked with the supplier of the valves to ensure the cleaning agent was compatible, Young said.

Northrop Grumman’s team also applied excessive voltage to transducers, and improperly installed fasteners on Webb’s sunshield,
...

simple fixes that were not implemented, (which) resulted in approximately a one-and-a-half-year schedule delay and a cost of about $600 million.”

JupiterKid · 29-06-2018 6:26am

Even for big ticket NASA programmmes the delays with the JWST are completely ridiculous. At least over a decade now at this stage.

Consider this: from President JFKs announcement of an American manned moon mission to Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon with Apollo 11 was about 8 years.

Capt'n Midnight · 04-07-2018 6:38pm

Since delays should get less likely closer to the launch,
most astronomers in 2018 believed the expansion of the schedule was slowing,
but by early 2020 new measurements indicated that it was actually accelerating.

Rubecula · 05-07-2018 10:19am

not really the launch date is not fixed

josip · 19-12-2019 12:59pm

20-25 years in the making for a 5 year life span doesn't seem great to me.
If the helium supply is the only/main limiting factor, could they not have designed it to be topped up by a robotic supply vehicle?

Capt'n Midnight · 19-12-2019 1:26pm

Any truth in the rumour that it was only built with a folding mirror so it would fit on a US launcher ?

And all that complexity was a waste of time and money because it's going up on a European one. SpaceX Falcon Heavy also has a big fairing. Neither are 7m though.

Capt'n Midnight · 19-12-2019 1:45pm

josip wrote: »

20-25 years in the making for a 5 year life span doesn't seem great to me.
If the helium supply is the only/main limiting factor, could they not have designed it to be topped up by a robotic supply vehicle?

Satellites have weight bearing mounting points to attach themselves to the launcher. The first steps are docking on and using anther vehicle to give a push. The technology of topping up the tanks would be further down the road. Though that's what happens on the ISS on a regular basis.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/10/10/successful-proton-launch-deploys-eutelsat-satellite-first-mission-extension-vehicle/

The Mission Extension Vehicle launched Wednesday, manufactured by Northrop Grumman, is the first commercial satellite servicing spacecraft ever built. It will dock with an Intelsat satellite in geostationary orbit and take over propulsion, extending the client satellite’s lifetime.

It would depend how they deal the helium tank. Valves that allow top ups may also leak. Helium is very leaky so punching a hole in a sealed tank is probably not an option.

Don't fear, the SLS can take astronaut that far if a rescue* mission is needed.

It would be much cheaper to use a Falcon Heavy to put some off the shelf Xenon thrusters, for political expediency use Boeing, and an Ariane docking ring into orbit and drag the telescope back to the ISS and do the work there.

*To rescue the SLS project from being cancelled

namloc1980 · 03-06-2020 2:40pm

James Webb looks like it will miss the current March 2021 launch date now. Even by the usual standards where everything to do with spaceflight involves delays, the development of this telescope has been a nightmare.

https://spacenews.com/work-on-jwst-ramps-up-again/

namloc1980 · 17-07-2020 11:54am

https://spacenews.com/nasa-delays-jwst-launch-by-seven-months/

Now the 31st October 2021.

James Webb Space Telescope

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