James Webb telescope to launch today

[joigus]

Weather is OK. It's a go.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59782057

 

 

Live:

 

[John Cuthber]

https://xkcd.com/2559/

 

[joigus]

24 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

https://xkcd.com/2559/

 

LOL. I meant, it's a ho, ho, ho.

[beecee]

https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-launch-success

 

So far, so good...all systems nominal. 

[beecee]

"James Webb has 344 “single points of failure” along its complex deployment process. If a step during deployment goes wrong, or if something appears off, mission managers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore would pause the deployment process and determine a new way to proceed.

But should a problem arise that would require repair, a robotic spacecraft could be sent to get the job done, Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, said in an interview.

“Have we talked about it? Oh yes we have talked about it,” said Ms. Melroy, whose previous job leading the tactical technology office at DARPA, the Pentagon’s research and development agency, made her a “big fan of robotic servicing.”

“I think we could actually put something together that would allow us to send a refueler or a servicer out there,” she said. “It might take a few years to pull all that together.”

extract from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/25/science/webb-telescope-launch-nasa

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[joigus]

Yeah. Most of those failure points will be relevant during deployment. And a big part has to do with operating the Sun shield. The telescope must work at 6K on average, and it seems that the most difficult part was to guarantee that this gravitating laboratory cools down to the required level. It's a matter of months. We've got some more waiting to do.

[beecee]

An unassuming star is thrust into the spotlight during calibration of the James Webb Space Telescope.