Daughter is in the industry so we've been following this for years, astounding project. I've got nothing to do with it & I'm more excited about this than Santa arriving!
Select to expand quoteBrent in Qld said..
Daughter is in the industry so we've been following this for years, astounding project. I've got nothing to do with it & I'm more excited about this than Santa arriving!
It's amazing technology Brent, will be keen to see how they go in the next few weeks after launch.
What's the odds of the rocket exploding on launch? With almost $US10b all in one basket, there's going to be some nervous nellies on launch day.
Something like 300+ single point failures from launch to operation, I mean what could go wrong.
Have been watching more technical videos on this telescope, it's an engineering marvel!
Select to expand quoteFlying Dutchman said..Brent in Qld said..
Daughter is in the industry so we've been following this for years, astounding project. I've got nothing to do with it & I'm more excited about this than Santa arriving!
It's amazing technology Brent, will be keen to see how they go in the next few weeks after launch.
Few weeks? !
Apparently it will take 6 months to set all mirrors in focus to have a clear picture.
At first, all 18 mirrors will produce overlay 18 different pictures onto one.
So every single star will be represented with 18 DIMM stars.
Select to expand quoteMacroscien said..Flying Dutchman said..Brent in Qld said..
Daughter is in the industry so we've been following this for years, astounding project. I've got nothing to do with it & I'm more excited about this than Santa arriving!
It's amazing technology Brent, will be keen to see how they go in the next few weeks after launch.
Few weeks? !
Apparently it will take 6 months to set all mirrors in focus to have a clear picture.
At first, all 18 mirrors will produce overlay 18 different pictures onto one.
So every single star will be represented with 18 DIMM stars.
Yeah however I think the first 2 weeks are the most critical as to the deployment.
Some great photos of the telescope being loaded onto the rocket here;
www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/albums/72157720000770033/page1
Someone was comparing the 25 year $10 Billion one shot with the US annual defense budget .... $700B.
D'oh! I missed the launch!
I love its orbit. It's actually orbiting The Sun, alongside Earth, out past The Moon, while doing forward loops. Really.
Here's yet another video, and Astrum is my favourite astronomy channel. I like the guy's content and delivery and tone and all. Actually my favourite since Sagan, which is really saying something, eh?
Select to expand quoteIan K said..
Someone was comparing the 25 year $10 Billion one shot with the US annual defense budget .... $700B.
No that is what they report 
Select to expand quoteJolene said..
I could see the rocket late in the launch in our WA night sky.
I wish i knew that, would have been pretty cool
Thats the website to follow...been watching through that one too.
As this is a Windsurf/bastard subvariants forum, the most risky deployment (sail) has commenced just to let you know...
Fantastic ingenuity and tech piece this thing. I been waiting for this one since late 90's...its also scary what it might discover if it works.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..Jolene said..
I could see the rocket late in the launch in our WA night sky.
I wish i knew that, would have been pretty cool
Hey Mark
The funny thing is that I didn't know.
I was outside doing a time exposure of the Leonard comet and then I spotted what looked like another comet, bright totally naked eye, between Aries and Taurus.
Knowing ,,,,wtf I went and got the missus to show her the phenomena.. she had all the enthusiasm of a Kennedy at a gun expo. I stopped the camera on the Leonard comet and set it on the new discovery ! I started the exposure but the new object slowly vanished or at least the halo that had illuminated did.
I quickly did a bit of research and discovered that the Webb was launched so I rang a Guy I know, who I thought would be in the know,,, and said I was on the money and that he had been watching it.
www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-telescope-reaches-major-milestone-as-mirror-unfolds
So far smooth sailing...Not too long now before the science starts.
Isn't it another couple of weeks getting to L2 followed by 5 months of calibration?
I believe so Mr Milk, been following this for nearly two decades so a few more months of updates seems like a drop in the ocean!
Select to expand quoteBrent in Qld said..
I believe so Mr Milk, been following this for nearly two decades so a few more months of updates seems like a drop in the ocean!
Brent, your patience is being rewarded the flawless progress is poetic.. I read recently that it would take a few weeks to get the mirror to cool down enough to be used. I thought it was behind the solar shields and mounted on the cold side. Can you help with an explanation please?
Cheers
AP
Hi AP. My recollection is built on Earth-used in space means thermal contraction of the mirror, as well as many other components, will take X time to reach the expected static operating temp. There are many aspects of design that consider the different stages of deployment, day to day use and end of life. You are correct about the shield+positioning, it's about attempting to maintain the best operating conditions while in use.
As for the uneventful deployment to date, I think there were a lot of lessons learnt when outside influences pushed for the Hubble to get into orbit. There were many resulting shakedown issues that caused serious operational delays, not the least being the flaw in the mirror. Hence the long build & budget blowouts of the Webb project. I reckon there was a lot of proofing & retesting going on!
Interestingly enough, the cooling down process requires electric heaters on some parts. The idea is that they have to be sure that no ice is left on the mirrors. After all, the aim is to be able to see clearly, and condensation on glasses is a real pain in the bum
Sounds right, I've been involved in making parts where controlling the ramp up/down of temp to avoid thermal shock, internal moisture explosions, etc... is critical. And that's just for earthly stuff, can only imagine the prep & scenarios all this kit has been run through to operate in the void of space.
ThankU..
Had thought the vacuum would sublimate all the H2O being close enough to the sun..
Layman again.. Does the L2 orbit provide any earth shadowing and that's why it was chosen over other equally gravity stable locations?
TIA
Cheers
AP
Mate I'm a layman too and your question is beyond my current scope of knowledge. I assume L2 was chosen for the reasons you point out and a multitude of factors like being able to maintain orbit in a dark+quiet spot with a minimum of effort, avoiding known space debris trajectories, distance to the nearest Macca's, etc...
solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/754/what-is-a-lagrange-point/Select to expand quoteAquaPlow said..
www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Coolest_spacecraft_ever_in_orbit_around_L2
ThankU..
Had thought the vacuum would sublimate all the H2O being close enough to the sun..
Layman again.. Does the L2 orbit provide any earth shadowing and that's why it was chosen over other equally gravity stable locations?
TIA
Cheers
AP
The L2 can keep the sun moon and earth all on the hot side of the radiation shield all the time. The sun is not eclipsed by earth or moon most of the time. They collect solar power on the hot side after all. There's still background radiation from all the rest on the cool side. Saturn and Jupiter probably the hottest and they come into view about half the time. Looks like the radiative equilibrium out there is -240 degrees C and they use a well-balanced refrigeration pump to cool it down to -270.
A regular solar orbit a fair bit wider then earth and moon would do the same job but for a lot of the time it would be a long way for communication back to earth. Suck up too much power to get the images back.
FYI been using this as my weekly dashboard to check-in.
www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html
