James Webb Space Telescope, information, updates and discussion |
James Webb Space Telescope, information, updates and discussion |
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#201
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 134 Joined: 13-March 05 Member No.: 191 ![]() |
The manufacture of the JWST mirror blanks has now been completed.
Despite this milestone, the fate of JWST is still somewhat precarious, because although the scientific bang from the telescope is expected to be huge, the bucks required have increased to a staggering $4.5 billion. A Space.com article on the squeeze in NASA's space-based astronomy plans gives some background. The JWST home page can be found here. The Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs Hubble, also has a site here. As does ESA. |
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#202
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 4252 Joined: 17-January 05 Member No.: 152 ![]() |
Do we know the size of the crater that was caused by that hit on the mirror? My guess is very small, relative to the size of the segment. The concern seems to be for uncorrectable wavefront error, due to distortions of the segments' shapes due to the force of the impacts. There's no mention of significant obscuration from the impacts. The big question is: was this a rare fluke or can we expect more such hits every few months. The commissioning document mentions the possibility of disfavouring pointing along the direction of orbital motion to try to minimize further damage. |
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#203
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 237 Joined: 14-January 22 Member No.: 9140 ![]() |
The commissioning document mentions the possibility of disfavouring pointing along the direction of orbital motion to try to minimize further damage. The reality of a 20-year mission rather than a 5-year mission gives two good reasons for this: It quadruples whatever rate of impacts, and also allows plenty of time to make up for pointing constraints. All the same observations can still be made, just on a different schedule. |
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