Webb Telescope on the Pad

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Webb Telescope on the Pad

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Dec 23, 2021 9:54 pm

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope rolls out for Christmas launch

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/23/world/ja ... index.html

(CNN)The James Webb Space Telescope is finally on the launchpad. The space observatory, safely tucked inside an Ariane 5 rocket, is expected to launch on December 25.

The rocket and its precious cargo rolled out to the Arianespace ELA-3 launch complex at Europe's Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana on Wednesday.
The rollout took about two hours to complete, according to NASA.

"With Webb and its rocket securely on the pad, the team will run electrical diagnostics to ensure all lights are green for launch," according to an update from NASA. "Teams will power on the observatory while at the launch pad to run one final aliveness test to ensure all systems have power and are working before liftoff."
The launch window opens Christmas morning at 7:20 a.m. ET and closes at 7:52 a.m. ET. Live coverage of the launch will stream on NASA's TV channel and website beginning Saturday at 6 a.m.
The highly anticipated launch of the James Webb Space Telescope has been delayed multiple times.
Ahead of a planned launch for December 24, news of adverse weather conditions came shortly after NASA shared that the Launch Readiness Review for the telescope was completed on Tuesday.

Another weather forecast reviewed on Wednesday confirmed the new launch date of December 25.
Heralded to be the premier space observatory of the next decade, the telescope, initially planned for a 2018 launch, has endured years of delays, including a combination of factors brought on by the pandemic and technical challenges.
Last week, teams were working on "a communication issue between the observatory and the launch vehicle system" that pushed the launch to December 24, NASA shared in an online post. The agency has since stated that the problem has been mostly resolved and would not prevent the launch.

The previous launch date of December 18 was pushed to December 22 after an incident occurred during launch preparations in November.
As technicians were preparing to attach the telescope to the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket that will be used during the launch, "a sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band caused a vibration throughout the observatory," according to the agency.
After testing and reviewing the observatory, teams concluded that the telescope was not damaged, and fueling was completed on December 3. The telescope was placed on top of the rocket on December 11.
What the telescope will do
Considered to be the world's most powerful complex space observatory, Webb will answer questions about our solar system, study exoplanets in new ways and look deeper into the universe than we've ever been able to. Webb will peer into the very atmospheres of exoplanets, some of which are potentially habitable, and could uncover clues in the ongoing search for life outside of Earth.
The telescope comes equipped with a mirror that can extend 21 feet and 4 inches (6.5 meters) -- a massive length that will allow the mirror to collect more light from the objects it observes once the telescope is in space. The more light the mirror can collect, the more details the telescope can observe.
The mirror includes 18 hexagonal gold-coated segments, each 4.3 feet (1.32 meters) in diameter.

It's the largest mirror NASA has ever built, the agency said, but its size created a unique problem. The mirror was so large that it couldn't fit inside a rocket. So NASA teams designed the telescope as a series of moving parts that can fold origami-style and fit inside a 16-foot (5-meter) space for launch.
Webb will act as an infrared sleuth, detecting light that is invisible to us and revealing otherwise hidden regions of space, according to NASA.

Ball Aerospace optical technician Scott Murray inspects the first gold primary mirror segment of the telescope.
The concept for the telescope was first imagined as a successor to Hubble at a workshop in 1989, and construction on Webb first began in 2004. Since then, thousands of scientists, technicians and engineers from 14 countries have spent 40 million hours building the telescope.
Now, Webb could help researchers understand the origins of the universe and begin to answer key questions about our existence, such as where we came from and if we're alone in the cosmos.

The most powerful telescope ever built is about to change how we see the universe
Once the telescope launches, it will travel for about a month until it reaches an orbit about 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away from Earth. Over the course of 29 days, Webb will unfold its mirrors and unfurl a protective sunshield. This process involves thousands of parts that must work perfectly in the right sequence.
Fortunately, each step can be controlled from the ground in case there are issues.
Then Webb will go through a period of setting up shop in space that lasts for six months, which involves cooling down the instruments, alignment and calibration. All of the instruments will go through a checkout process to see how they are functioning.
Then, it will begin to collect data and its first images later in 2022. Thousands of scientists have been waiting for years to see what Webb can show us.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#2 Post by Boac » Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:04 pm


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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#3 Post by OFSO » Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:11 pm

A perfect orbital insertion by Arianespace. Some of the comments made by Americans on the chat panel were priceless.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#4 Post by OFSO » Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:10 pm

IMG-20211227-WA0001.jpg
IMG-20211227-WA0001.jpg (41.62 KiB) Viewed 833 times

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#5 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:22 pm

#-o
:-o
=))

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#6 Post by Undried Plum » Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:30 pm

OFSO wrote:
Sat Dec 25, 2021 10:11 pm
A perfect orbital insertion by Arianespace. Some of the comments made by Americans on the chat panel were priceless.
Perhaps they were astonished that both the navigation team and the thruster control team were both using SI units. Or perhaps that the O-ring seals on the SRBs held together as if by magic.

8-|

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#7 Post by OFSO » Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:36 pm

Pedantic answer: different seals.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#8 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:29 am

Though you remain
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"To be alive
You must have somewhere
To go
Your destination remains
Elusive."

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#9 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Tue Jan 04, 2022 5:06 am

For those who were wondering about where the James Web telescope was in its mission onwards to L2 insertion...

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunc ... sWebb.html
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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#10 Post by PHXPhlyer » Tue Jan 04, 2022 3:13 pm

NASA’s new space telescope ‘hunky-dory’ after problems fixed
The tennis court-size sunshield on the James Webb Space Telescope is now fully open and in the process of being stretched tight.


https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/n ... -rcna10856

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new space telescope is on the verge of completing the riskiest part of its mission — unfolding and tightening a huge sunshade — after ground controllers fixed a pair of problems, officials said Monday.

The tennis court-size sunshield on the James Webb Space Telescope is now fully open and in the process of being stretched tight. The operation should be complete by Wednesday.

The $10 billion telescope — the largest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever launched — rocketed away Christmas Day from French Guiana. Its sunshield and primary mirror had to be folded to fit into the European Ariane rocket.

The sunshield is vital for keeping Webb’s infrared-sensing instruments at subzero temperatures, as they scan the universe for the first stars and galaxies, and examine the atmospheres of alien worlds for possible signs of life.

Getting the sunshield extended last Friday “was really a huge achievement for us,” said project manager Bill Ochs. All 107 release pins opened properly.

But there have been a few obstacles.

Flight controllers in Maryland had to reset Webb’s solar panel to draw more power. The observatory — considered the successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope — was never in any danger, with a constant power flow, said Amy Lo, a lead engineer for the telescope’s prime contractor, Northrop Grumman.

They also repointed the telescope to limit sunlight on six overheating motors. The motors cooled enough to begin securing the sunshield, a three-day process that can be halted if the problem crops up again, officials said.

“Everything is hunky-dory and doing well now,” Lo said.

Ochs expects the tightening of the sunshield to be drama-free.

“The best thing for operations is boring, and that’s what we anticipate over the next three days, is to be boring,” he told reporters in a teleconference.

If that holds true, the telescope’s gold-plated mirror — more than 21 feet (6.5 meters) across — could unfold as soon as this weekend.

Webb should reach its destination 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away by the end of January. As of Monday, the telescope was more than halfway there. The infrared telescope should begin observing the cosmos by the end of June, ultimately unveiling the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s a mere 100 million years after the universe-creating Big Bang.

Launched in 1990, Hubble, which sees primarily visible light, has peered as far back as 13.4 billion years ago. Astronomers hope to close the gap with Webb, which is 100 times more powerful.

In another bit of good news Monday, officials said they expect Webb to last well beyond the originally anticipated 10 years based on its fuel efficiency.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#11 Post by bob2s » Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:57 pm

Webb should reach its destination 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away by the end of January. As of Monday, the telescope was more than halfway there. The infrared telescope should begin observing the cosmos by the end of June, ultimately unveiling the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe 13.7 billion years ago. That’s a mere 100 million years after the universe-creating Big Bang.

Launched in 1990, Hubble, which sees primarily visible light, has peered as far back as13.4 billion years ago. Astronomers hope to close the gap with Webb, which is 100 times more powerful.

Given the above, is it possible for one of the learned members explain to me how the underlined measurements are arrived at.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#12 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:25 am

SWAG

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#13 Post by Alisoncc » Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:20 pm

Webby has started first phase of primary mirror deployment. Suspect lot of people over there with crossed fingers.

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunc ... sWebb.html
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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#14 Post by Alisoncc » Sat Jan 08, 2022 4:40 am

Port Primary Mirror Wing Complete

The Port Primary Mirror Wing is fully deployed and latched.

Nominal Event Time: Launch + 13 days (Friday 1/7/22)
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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#15 Post by Boac » Sat Jan 08, 2022 9:07 pm

All done!

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#16 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Jan 08, 2022 10:01 pm

A tremendous effort and now let the astronomy begin!
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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#17 Post by AtomKraft » Sun Jan 09, 2022 10:32 am

Just to remind everyone, the 'Standard model' and the 'Big Bang' are theories, not facts.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#18 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:16 am

AtomKraft wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 10:32 am
Just to remind everyone, the 'Standard model' and the 'Big Bang' are theories, not facts.
Maybe this James Web infrared telescope might change that state of affairs, although the fact that one can see further back in time using a infrared telescope implies that that space is expanding, which is one the basic assumptions of the 'Big Bang' theory..... ;)))

As you know, the basic aim of using an infrared telescope is to pick up light from stars that are so far away from us that their light has been red shifted fully into the infrared range of frequencies...
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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#19 Post by AtomKraft » Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:03 pm

Some aspects of the Standard model must surely be correct.

The Big Bang has always sounded like a load of bollocks.

I share your hope about the new 'scope shedding some light on what is actually what.

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Re: Webb Telescope on the Pad

#20 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:01 am

The 3 month long process of fine tuning the focus of the mirror is now underway.
Consisting of 18 hexagonal segments of gold-plated beryllium metal, the primary mirror measures 6.5 metres (21ft 4in) in diameter – a much larger light-collecting surface than Webb’s predecessor, the 30-year-old Hubble telescope.

The 18 segments, which had been folded together to fit inside the cargo bay of the rocket that carried the telescope to space, were unfurled with the rest of its structural components during a two-week period following Webb’s launch on Christmas Day.

Those segments must now be detached from fasteners that held them in place for the launch and then moved forward by about a centimetre from their original configuration – a 10-day process – before they can be aligned to form a single, unbroken, light-collecting surface.

The alignment will take an additional three months, Lee Feinberg, the Webb optical telescope element manager at Goddard, said.

Aligning the primary mirror segments to form one large mirror means each segment “is aligned to one-five-thousandth the thickness of a human hair”, Feinberg said.

“All of this required us to invent things that had never been done before,” such as the actuators, which were built to move incrementally at -240C (-400F) in the vacuum of space, he added.

The telescope’s smaller, secondary mirror, designed to direct light collected from the primary lens into Webb’s camera and other instruments, must also be aligned to operate as part of a cohesive optical system.

If all goes as planned, the telescope should be ready to capture its first science images in May, which would be processed over about another month before they can be released to the public, Feinberg said.

The $9bn telescope, described by Nasa as the premier space-science observatory of the next decade, will mainly view the cosmos in the infrared spectrum, allowing it to gaze through clouds of gas and dust where stars are being born. Hubble has operated primarily at optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.

Webb is about 100 times more powerful than Hubble, enabling it to observe objects at greater distances, thus farther back in time, than Hubble or any other telescope.
Astronomers say this will bring into view a glimpse of the cosmos never previously seen – dating to just 100m years after the Big Bang, the theoretical flashpoint that set in motion the expansion of the observable universe an estimated 13.8bn years ago.

The telescope is an international collaboration led by Nasa in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/202 ... into-focus
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