Stargazing The James Webb Space Telescope construction

[davenn]

cool article on the progress of the JWST constructionhttp://www.space.com/31838-james-we...r-assembled.html?cmpid=NL_SP_weekly_2016-2-05Dave

 

[1oldman2]

cool article on the progress of the JWST constructionhttp://www.space.com/31838-james-we...r-assembled.html?cmpid=NL_SP_weekly_2016-2-05Dave

Here is a link to the webcams they have installed in the facility, you can follow their progress on a couple of cams. http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/webcam.html

 

[davenn]

Here is a link to the webcams they have installed in the facility, you can follow their progress on a couple of cams. http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/webcam.html

do the still images just get updated occasionally ?
as the timers on the cams are not running ... or do I need some other viewer software ?

 

[1oldman2]

do the still images just get updated occasionally ?
as the timers on the cams are not running ... or do I need some other viewer software ?

It seams to be about one shot per minute if I'm not mistaken.

 

[1oldman2]

Next in line after JWST
http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-introduces-new-wider-set-of-eyes-on-the-universe

 

[Vanadium 50]

Next in line after JWST

Let's hope this one isn't plagued by poor management.

 

[1oldman2]

Optically complete.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...milestones-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope

 

[davenn]

Optically complete.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard...milestones-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope

Outstanding !

 

[1oldman2]

Couple of screen shots of the progress.

 

[Zephyr007]

Are those panels made out of tellurium? Looks big... Might detect aliens. :)

 

[1oldman2]

Are those panels made out of tellurium? Looks big... Might detect aliens. :)

It appears they are Beryllium.
http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=847108
I think its designed to detect the extremely distant infrared aliens.

 

[Zephyr007]

Sweet! Can't wait to see this telescope launch.

 

[1oldman2]

Sweet! Can't wait to see this satellite launch.

Take a look at the link in post #5, I believe the WFIRST and JWST are meant to be used in tandem on certain projects involving imaging the very early universe. I just hope I live long enough to see the results.
Upon closer reading I see that the primary purpose of WFIRST will be as a Kepler replacement/upgrade for exoplanet hunting, however it will be teamed up with JWST also for imaging the very earliest universe possible.

 

[1oldman2]

Getting ready for the next rounds of testing. After reading up on JWST I can't believe the convoluted history involved with this project.
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-james-webb-space-telescope-golden.html

 

[Andy Resnick]

Are those panels made out of tellurium? Looks big... Might detect aliens. :)

The primary mirrors are gold-coated beryllium. What you see in these images are the covers.

Here's a pic with the covers removed:
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/james-webb-space-telescopes-golden-mirror-unveiled

 

[Borg]

Today's APOD features the James Webb Space Telescope being tilted up.

 

[1oldman2]

Today's APOD features the James Webb Space Telescope being tilted up.

That's two thumbs up on the post. I read that the mechanical deployment will be going through very intensive testing as that is the one aspect they cannot simulate in their cold vacuum chambers due to size, they have to get it right first time out of the box.

 

[1oldman2]

Progress!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6531

 

[ruarimac]

Upon closer reading I see that the primary purpose of WFIRST will be as a Kepler replacement/upgrade for exoplanet hunting, however it will be teamed up with JWST also for imaging the very earliest universe possible.

The primary goal of WFIRST is cosmology. It will use three of the major tests, baryon acoustic oscillations, weak lensing and supernovae. It will complete at 2-3000 square degree survey with both near infrared slitless spectroscopy and deep near infrared imaging. It was originally a dark energy mission but it's slightly oddly placed now with the major change in design caused by the use of the NRO telescope. It also has major overlap with Euclid which will fly earlier.

Exoplanets were a secondary consideration, it's certainly not a Kepler replacement. The two exoplanet major projects will be a very high contrast coronograph to image large planets and a microlensing survey to detect free floating planets and get better statistics of planets far from their stars unlike Kepler which couldn't do that.

 

[D H]

Let's hope this one isn't plagued by poor management.

I didn't see a sarcasm icon in that post of yours.

It's hard to fathom that nobody has challenged you on this yet, V50. The JWST has been plagued by poor management from day one. The initial 1997 estimate was half a billion dollars for a 2007 launch. The current estimate is 8.8 billion dollars for a 2018 launch. That's over an order of magnitude increase in cost and over a decade slip in launch time.

 

[davenn]

It's hard to fathom that nobody has challenged you on this yet, V50. The JWST has been plagued by poor management from day one. The initial 1997 estimate was half a billion dollars for a 2007 launch. The current estimate is 8.8 billion dollars for a 2018 launch. That's over an order of magnitude increase in cost and over a decade slip in launch time.

yikes !

didn't realize it had go so out of hand

Dave

 

[Vanadium 50]

JWST is plagued by horrible management. I was expressing the hope that the next one won't be.

 

[1oldman2]

I was expressing the hope that the next one won't be.

There is always hope.(I hope)

 

[1oldman2]

yikes !

didn't realize it had go so out of hand

Dave

"Epic" mismanagement, but I can't wait to see it in action.

 

[1oldman2]

This seems to be one of the best sites going for general info on the JWST.
http://webbtelescope.org/webb_telescope/

 

[Chronos]

Mega projects usually suffer unexpected cost over runs and delays. I recall reading the pyramids were originally projected to cost a few hundred slaves, blocks of granite and about a decade to complete. The designers and their families, at least those still living, were ordered ceremonially entombed therein upon completion. Perhaps that would serve as sufficient motivation for JWST project managers.

 

[1oldman2]

Mega projects usually suffer unexpected cost over runs and delays. I recall reading the pyramids were originally projected to cost a few hundred slaves, blocks of granite and about a decade to complete. The designers and their families, at least those still living, were ordered ceremonially entombed therein upon completion. Perhaps that would serve as sufficient motivation for JWST project managers.

I like your way of thinking but you know Bureaucracies hate accountability.

 

[1oldman2]

 

[1oldman2]

Not even launched and already giving returns, this is interesting.
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/nasa-seeks-picometer-accuracy

 

[Borg]

http://www.xkcd.com/1730/

 

[1oldman2]

http://www.xkcd.com/1730/

Classic xkcd humor.

 

[1oldman2]

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/a-mechanical-harmony-to-nasas-webb-telescope-sunshield


Each step of the deployment will be manually initiated from engineers on Earth. That sequence runs automatically to its completion (with automated stoppage in case of a fault), then the system waits for the next command.

It will be like conducting an orchestra from a million miles away. "Thousands of components work together to deploy the sunshield," Cooper said.

The mechanisms that separate each of the sunshield's five layers do so with precision. Near the center of the sunshield each layer is separated by only a couple inches, but the layer-to-layer gap increases as you move away from the center, to about a foot between layers around the edges. It will take nearly two days to fully deploy the sunshield system when in orbit.

The Webb telescope state-of-the-art composite structure that supports the sunshield -operates with Swiss watch-like precision," said Paul Geithner, Webb telescope technical manager at Goddard. "The engineering of the sunshield is an intricate system with a simple but not easy-to-do purpose."

The stowed sunshield fits inside of a 5-meter (16.4-foot) rocket fairing, folded up against the sides of the telescope. When deployed in space it’s about the size of a tennis court (about 21 meters by 14.5 meters, or 68.9 feet by 47.5 feet).

"There has never been a composite structure this large and complex (for a NASA mission)," Cooper said.