James Webb Space Telescope (Technical Post ONLY !)

Time-lapse: Webb Telescope Element Folded and Prepped for Shipping to NASA Johnson

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Sep 25, 2019

Time-lapse video of engineers in NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center clean room folding and placing NASA's James Webb Space Telescope optical and instrument element into its shipping container called the Space Telescope Transporter for Air Road and Sea (STTARS).

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Lead Producer: Michael McClare

Technical Support: Aaron E. Lepsch

Videographers: Sophia Roberts, Michael P. Menzel, Michael Randazzo

Photographer: Christopher Gunn



 
Flyaway said:
Time-lapse: Webb Telescope Element Folded and Prepped for Shipping to NASA Johnson

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Sep 25, 2019

Time-lapse video of engineers in NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center clean room folding and placing NASA's James Webb Space Telescope optical and instrument element into its shipping container called the Space Telescope Transporter for Air Road and Sea (STTARS).

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Lead Producer: Michael McClare

Technical Support: Aaron E. Lepsch

Videographers: Sophia Roberts, Michael P. Menzel, Michael Randazzo

Photographer: Christopher Gunn



Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the videos Flyaway. Highly interesting.
 
NASA says it is holding to a March 2021 launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope, but a new reportfrom the US Government Accountability Office suggests the mission probably will not happen then.

Because the space agency and the telescope's prime contractor, Northrop Grumman, continue to tackle serious technical problems, the report estimates that there is only a 12 percent chance that the large space telescope will launch in March 2021. It is due to lift off on board an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Click to expand...

arstechnica.com

Report: Webb telescope has just a 12 percent chance of making launch date

NASA generally uses a “70 percent confidence level” to establish dates.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
 
Flyaway said:
NASA says it is holding to a March 2021 launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope, but a new reportfrom the US Government Accountability Office suggests the mission probably will not happen then.

Because the space agency and the telescope's prime contractor, Northrop Grumman, continue to tackle serious technical problems, the report estimates that there is only a 12 percent chance that the large space telescope will launch in March 2021. It is due to lift off on board an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Click to expand...

arstechnica.com

Report: Webb telescope has just a 12 percent chance of making launch date

NASA generally uses a “70 percent confidence level” to establish dates.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
Click to expand...

Not so good news for the Webb space telescope. What happens next? A delay to the launch into 2022?
 
This is the GAO. NASA will probably write a reply which will give a better idea of where things stand. 70% confidence isn't exactly solid so March should be considered optimistic.
 
Actually that's a lot less folding than I thought. I had assumed with all of those separate mirrored faces that there would be more than two folds of the primary mirror. That said, Ican't imagine how they are possibly going to align those two pieces during deployment with the kinda of microscopic tolerances that will be required. The rest of the deployment looks fairly straight forward. But certainly the nature of its deployment is extremely high risk in such an expensive project.
 
Each mirror is attached to the frame by a set of actuators. Once the mirror is unfolded, the actuators will be used to finetune mirror positions.
 
Are they using this program as a front for another round of classified spy satellites?
 
Probably they are just fucking up. If you remember correctly, the Hubble went through a similar process...my dad has a paper weight dating to 1985 for that project. Hubble ultimately turned out to be worth it...here's hoping Web does too. It is a much more ambitious project with a lot more science to be learned if it works...but obviously, more expensive with no hope of repair if anything goes wrong.
 
Josh_TN said:
Probably they are just fucking up. If you remember correctly, the Hubble went through a similar process...my dad has a paper weight dating to 1985 for that project. Hubble ultimately turned out to be worth it...here's hoping Web does too. It is a much more ambitious project with a lot more science to be learned if it works...but obviously, more expensive with no hope of repair if anything goes wrong.
Click to expand...

Especially since it is going to be placed in orbit around the second Lagrange point, so they better make sure that everything is working okay before launch, or it will be an expensive mistake.
 
Josh_TN said:
Probably they are just fucking up. If you remember correctly, the Hubble went through a similar process...my dad has a paper weight dating to 1985 for that project. Hubble ultimately turned out to be worth it...here's hoping Web does too. It is a much more ambitious project with a lot more science to be learned if it works...but obviously, more expensive with no hope of repair if anything goes wrong.
Click to expand...

Nope, this latest, relatively minuscule slip is 100% motivated by Coronavirus’s impact on the work their doing. This article is pretty pointless and anemic (to be expected because of who wrote it) because NASA has yet to release a new post-COVID launch date; the language of relevant NASA officials suggests the delay could be as small as a month or two, as they’ve mentioned they could still hit the original March launch date, but not without rushing (which is something you really don’t wanna risk with JWST).
 
E-V Bomber said:
Josh_TN said:
Probably they are just fucking up. If you remember correctly, the Hubble went through a similar process...my dad has a paper weight dating to 1985 for that project. Hubble ultimately turned out to be worth it...here's hoping Web does too. It is a much more ambitious project with a lot more science to be learned if it works...but obviously, more expensive with no hope of repair if anything goes wrong.
Click to expand...

Nope, this latest, relatively minuscule slip is 100% motivated by Coronavirus’s impact on the work their doing. This article is pretty pointless and anemic (to be expected because of who wrote it) because NASA has yet to release a new post-COVID launch date; the language of relevant NASA officials suggests the delay could be as small as a month or two, as they’ve mentioned they could still hit the original March launch date, but not without rushing (which is something you really don’t wanna risk with JWST).
Click to expand...
Actually I think that’s a bit of unjustified comment concerning the author as I usually find his stuff pretty good.
 
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE TO LAUNCH IN OCTOBER 2021

16 July 2020

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.

NASA has announced the decision, based on a recently completed schedule risk assessment of the remaining integration and test activities before launch, accounting for impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and technical challenges. Previously, Webb was targeted to launch in March 2021.

Testing of the observatory continues to go well at Northrop Grumman, the mission's main industry partner in Redondo Beach, California, despite the challenges of the coronavirus situation. The factors for the new launch date include the impacts of augmented safety precautions, reduced on-site personnel, shift work disruption and technical challenges. This year, a final set of complex environmental tests of the full observatory will be completed followed by a final deployment of the telescope and sunshield.

ESA Science & Technology - James Webb Space Telescope to launch in October 2021

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.
sci.esa.int sci.esa.int
 
Flyaway said:
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE TO LAUNCH IN OCTOBER 2021

16 July 2020

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.

NASA has announced the decision, based on a recently completed schedule risk assessment of the remaining integration and test activities before launch, accounting for impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and technical challenges. Previously, Webb was targeted to launch in March 2021.

Testing of the observatory continues to go well at Northrop Grumman, the mission's main industry partner in Redondo Beach, California, despite the challenges of the coronavirus situation. The factors for the new launch date include the impacts of augmented safety precautions, reduced on-site personnel, shift work disruption and technical challenges. This year, a final set of complex environmental tests of the full observatory will be completed followed by a final deployment of the telescope and sunshield.

ESA Science & Technology - James Webb Space Telescope to launch in October 2021

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.
sci.esa.int sci.esa.int
Click to expand...

At least it is not getting delayed by further technical trouble again, better being safe than sorry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Next year cannot come fast enough.
 
FighterJock said:
Flyaway said:
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE TO LAUNCH IN OCTOBER 2021

16 July 2020

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.

NASA has announced the decision, based on a recently completed schedule risk assessment of the remaining integration and test activities before launch, accounting for impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and technical challenges. Previously, Webb was targeted to launch in March 2021.

Testing of the observatory continues to go well at Northrop Grumman, the mission's main industry partner in Redondo Beach, California, despite the challenges of the coronavirus situation. The factors for the new launch date include the impacts of augmented safety precautions, reduced on-site personnel, shift work disruption and technical challenges. This year, a final set of complex environmental tests of the full observatory will be completed followed by a final deployment of the telescope and sunshield.

ESA Science & Technology - James Webb Space Telescope to launch in October 2021

The launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is now planned for 31 October 2021.
sci.esa.int sci.esa.int
Click to expand...

At least it is not getting delayed by further technical trouble again, better being safe than sorry during the Covid-19 pandemic. Next year cannot come fast enough.
Click to expand...
I think that’s what a lot of people are saying!!!
 
Let me tell you a little secret... since the glory year 1996, JWST and Nauka have been in a secret race to DELAY their respective launches. Now they are entering the final straight line, and the race is heating up !

Nauka has just arrived in Baikonur ? JWST achieve ground testing.

Who will launch last ? JWST or Nauka ? stay tunned ! Anything can happen... remember, this is 2020, after all...
 
If there aren't aliens, zombies, or an incoming asteroid by the end of December I'll be surprised.
 
Yeah, I meant something more than a pickup truck coming within 3 million miles.
 
Though it still on schedule for an October 2021 launch their are still some technical issues to resolve.

JWST is still dealing with some technical issues. One ongoing one is a concern that residual air trapped in the folded sunshield could overstress it when the Ariane 5 that launches the spacecraft jettisons the payload fairing. Smith said the program has been working with Arianespace to change air vents in the fairing.

On two Ariane 5 launches with the new vents, sensors measured residual air pressures inside the fairing nearly double the rated capability of the sunshield. “There’s a little more pencil sharpening that has to be done on this issue,” he said.

That work includes work by NASA and Northrop Grumman to see if the spacecraft can tolerate the higher residual pressures measured on the launches. If not, he said some parts of the spacecraft may need to be “patched” to handle the higher pressures, work he said would be completed by December.

“It’s only a few places in the sunshield where it feels the stress above requirements,” he said. Any patching work, he estimated, would require no more than a few days of schedule margin.

A new issue is a concern raised by Northrop from work on another program that some fasteners may not have been installed with sufficient torque. Smith said the JWST team looked at more than 12,300 fasteners and determined that about 160 needed to be retorqued during deployment tests. He said it wasn’t clear what schedule impact, if any, that work would have.
Click to expand...

spacenews.com

JWST remains on track for October 2021 launch

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope remains on schedule for a launch in a little more than a year, but the program is still dealing with some technical issues that could eat into its schedule reserve…
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 

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