The deployment sequence that takes approx 30 days is terrifying but also probably one of the most complex things we would ever achieve if successful.<p>Have been waiting for this since I was a teenager. Can't believe we are almost there (launch on Dec 22).<p>Here's a short 2 min video of that deployment sequence if anyone wants to be fascinated: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGLKQ7_KZQ" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGLKQ7_KZQ</a><p>Also a short interview with Dr. John Mather (could listen to him all day) if anyone wants to know how the telescope works: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P8fKd0IVOs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P8fKd0IVOs</a>
For those complaining about the spending: some countries spent TRILLIONS on war and and nation building. It's developments like these we should be focusing our energy and intelect.
Here’s hoping that “incident” a couple weeks ago will be the only one and everything will work out just fine.<p>This launch and perspective for science has me anxious and excited since its inception - and it’s been a while.<p>I will open a bottle of champagne when the first data will be sent from L2 with something along the “fully operational” lines.<p>Godspeed.
I wonder how much of the vehicle's final cost is directly attributable to the complexity of deployment. I.E. how much easier would this be if we had a launch vehicle with a fairing capable of fitting fully deployed configuration.
Phil Mosby, the guy who did the Webb inspired piece that Nasa bought and hung in their library is from Tahoe and good friends with my brother... we have one of his pieces hanging in our living room, but whats REALLY cool is his astro-calendar (a calendar with a whole bunch of space facts and beautiful pics.. Highly recommend...<p><a href="https://i.imgur.com/B7aA3Xw.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://i.imgur.com/B7aA3Xw.jpg</a>
Splendid<p>It is destined for a point in space 1.5 million kilometres from Earth — too far away for astronauts to visit and fix the telescope if something goes wrong. Hubble required an after-launch repair in 1993, when astronauts used the space shuttle to get to the Earth-orbiting observatory and install corrective optics for its primary mirror, which had been improperly ground.
I have started to wonder, will it ever be possible to 'see' the big bang? How close can we get to measuring that far back? From what I've seen JWST will be able to peer back to just a few hundred million years after the big bang. What are the limit to seeing even further back? Is it a matter of telescope size, will an even larger telescope by definition be able to see even further back? What is the limit?
Shout out to the good folks of Delta, Utah, some of whom work in the Beryllium mines nearby. My car broke down there once and I learned that Beryllium is a vital component in the JWST because it doesn't expand or contract as the sun warms it.<p>Digging Beryllium for James Webb<p><a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148574/digging-beryllium-for-james-webb" rel="nofollow">https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148574/digging-bery...</a><p>I also learned that I actually broke down inside another telescope:<p><i>The Telescope Array project is a collaboration between universities and institutions in the United States, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Belgium. The experiment is designed to observe air showers induced by cosmic rays with extremely high energy. It does this using a combination of ground array and air-fluorescence techniques...The Telescope Array observes cosmic rays with energies greater than 1018eV. The surface array samples events over 300 square miles of desert.</i><p><a href="http://www.telescopearray.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.telescopearray.org/</a>
I'm a big fan of prediction markets, where people wager their own money on clear yes/no propositions, and you get a payoff if you buy shares on the winning side. It's a great way to tap the "wisdom of the crowd," even if you don't put up your own money.<p>Which brings me to the JWST. I'd love to know how likely it is that this amazing (and amazingly complex) tool actually succeeds in its goals. There's no way I could figure it out myself; I'd have to take someone else's word for it. Unless... there is a prediction market somewhere betting on whether the JWST will succeed, so I can piggyback on others' research and self-interest. I haven't been able to find one though. (Perhaps people think betting "against" success is too macabre.)<p>Anyone want to throw out a likelihood of success? (My WAG: 70%.)
I hope if Webb will be successfully operating, we'll get significant progress in the question of the life origin. Abiogenesis is predetermined and common.
What exactly are we hoping to learn from the telescope? I understand that it will allow us to see farther than ever before, and that is exciting. But, there must be a list of hypotheses that astronomers are planning to test. None of the videos/articles I've found actually speak to the specific discoveries we are hoping to make. Is it simply that the science is so advanced that it's out of reach for a layman?
Given that this will be at a distance of more than a million miles from earth, I would assume that missions to repair the telescope are likely not an option. So how long is jwst expected to live? Is it extremely unlikely to collide with any objects at such a distance from earth?
Will JWST send back pictures comparable (presumably better?) to the ones Hubble takes?<p>Those famous Hubble pictures are the defining images of a generation of scientists and dreamers. Are we about to get an update of those?<p>Or is this mission about the data?
I've honestly not been as excited (in astronomy-terms I mean :D) about science as I am about the James Webb telescope. I can't wait to see what it shows
Quick! Take it back to the lab and put one of these on it!<p><a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/colour-changing-magnifying-glass-gives-clear-view-of-infrared-light" rel="nofollow">https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/colour-changing-magnifyi...</a>
I expect we'll see more mature galaxies in the distant universe.<p>This is a glaring problem for the standard model (big bang LCDM) right now.<p>XMM-2599, SPT0418-47, MRG-M2129, all mature galaxies, far away
If someone ever wanted to understand what a space force might provide, consider what happens when someone wants to use one of the lagrange points for their own purpose, and it's currently occupied by someone they don't like.<p>There's more to what any military force brings, obviously, both positive and negative. It's just sometimes when discussing the purpose of a military with others, the concept seems a little too fuzzy because most resources seem broadly available enough that they could easily be shared from a laypersons perspective. Lagrange points are very finite.<p>edit: apparently the area contained within a lagrange point is larger than I expected. Negates my point.