James Webb Space Telescope Launch December 22

[visibility3miles]

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-59525740

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/index.html

[Carry0nLuggage]

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/976x549/image_cd7ebf3cbc998361bb2247d2c0f8aa708b26a8bf.png
Whenever I see the artwork it reminds me of a popup book.

It is a tremendous acheivement and like everybody who works in the industry I hope the launch goes OK. We all know what it's like to see all our hard work get launched so fingers crossed for those few minutes.

[visibility3miles]

It is origami writ large.

As big as a school bus upon launch, then it unfolds at a Lagrange point.

[tartare]

Indeed.
Weeks of terror they were saying as it sequentially unfolds - too far away for any human to intervene if it goes wrong.
The pictures will be amazing.

[tdracer]

Indeed.
Weeks of terror they were saying as it sequentially unfolds - too far away for any human to intervene if it goes wrong.
The pictures will be amazing.
Yea, decades of work and several billion dollars at risk - both during the launch and the subsequent weeks of it doing its origami trick.
Best of luck - I'm really hoping they got it all right this time. No going back to fix it like they did Hubble...

[cattletruck]

Couldn't they simply bundle a programmable robot along for the ride who could operate a screwdriver, a soldering iron, a rag, and an ability to search Google for answers in order to keep any operational glitches under control for the life of the satellite by having the robot work under guidance by his/her superiors at the base station on Earth.

Now there's a commercial idea - Royal Spacecraft Club Orbitside Assist.

[wiggy]

Technical complications aside (there are going to be lots of fingers, toes, legs and…:ooh: crossed, mine included) just a reminder about who this James Webb bloke was…It’s not been normal for NASA to name projects after politicians but Webb was probably the politician who did most to get America to the Moon by the end of the 60s…it’s rumoured he certainly knew where the bodies were buried..

James E. Webb and the Grand Strategy of the Moon Landing: A Political, Administrative, and Contextual Analysis - Inquiries Journal (http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1804/james-e-webb-and-the-grand-strategy-of-the-moon-landing-a-political-administrative-and-contextual-analysis)

[ORAC]

Nasa sets new date for James Webb space telescope launch

The much-delayed launch of the James Webb space telescope (https://www.theguardian.com/science/james-webb-space-telescope) will go ahead on 24 December, Nasa and the company overseeing the launch have confirmed.…

“The James Webb Space (https://www.theguardian.com/science/space) Telescope is confirmed for the target launch date of December 24,” tweeted launch company Arianespace, adding that it would go ahead at 12:20 GMT on that day.

Confirming the launch date, Nasa (https://www.theguardian.com/science/nasa) tweeted that the telescope was “encapsulated inside its @Ariane5 rocket fairing”…..

[NineEighteen]

This is quite exciting for me. I’m studying Astronomy and Planetary Science and JWST has the capability to do some great observations into the past state of the Universe, as well as others.

It’ll be a rather nerve wracking experience for a lot of scientists though. Hopefully the launch, journey to its Lagrange point and unfurling will be smooth🤞🏻.

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/grandpajoe42/status/1473143718496681992?s=21

[ShyTorque]

Let’s hope they got the focus correct on this one…. :8

An interesting project, I’m looking forward to hearing how this goes.

[wiggy]

NASA press release with details of timings/streaming/viewing options.

NASA Info, Public viewing… (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-sets-coverage-invites-public-to-view-webb-telescope-launch)

[visibility3miles]

My plans for the Christmas Eve: Watch the launch.

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/ (https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html)

[visibility3miles]

National Public Radio featured several astrophysicists discussing the Webb recently:

https://the1a.org/segments/the-launch-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-almost-here-what-will-we-discover/

Fingers crossed, knocking on wood. Ancient best wishes for a successful launch and deployment.

P.S., Thank you mods for moving this thread here from JetBlast. This is probably a more appropriate forum, although many on Jet Blast watch the distant skies.

[ORAC]

Nasa to launch newest space telescope on Christmas Day

Dangerously high winds will keep Nasa’s newest space telescope (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/dec/19/nasa-sets-new-date-for-james-webb-space-telescope-launch) on the ground for at least an extra day, with the launch now targeted for Saturday – Christmas Day – at the earliest.

[HOVIS]

Bet that went down well. 😁

[NineEighteen]

Fingers crossed! Still on for a 12:20 UTC launch. Anyone nervous? $10bn worth of technology as well as a LOT of work on this ride 😅.

[visibility3miles]

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1024x930/image_cc7987c66a9daf816cb80db168cfb7a4f13212fd.jpeg

Launch teams monitor the countdown to the launch of Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, in the Jupiter Center at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

[treadigraph]

I gather it launched ok. So far so good...

[visibility3miles]

Yes. And the solar panels are deployed and providing electricity.

[visibility3miles]

Deployment sequence; you can click on each step (at the top of the screen) and see when things are supposed to happen. It’ll take 29 days to get to the L2 point.

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/deploymentExplorer.html

[ORAC]

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

[Max Angle]

Another NASA site showing progress to L2 and the deployment.

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/steeljawscribe/status/1475226003291226117?s=21

[visibility3miles]

Is the mirror image of a photo meant to avoid copyright law for stealing someone else’s photo?

I see it so many times that I can’t imagine any other explanation.

FWIW NASA photos are copyright free, as our tax dollars paid for them, so you can use and abuse them any way you want to.

[ORAC]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[wiggy]

! raeR hO……..

[visibility3miles]

I am told that there was such a sign on the Webb and that it WAS removed before launch. ;-)

[India Four Two]

xkcd’s take on the launch!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1407x823/5b5b1a62_e82e_4dd6_b5a1_27251a6578bb_485d3257e4b97404aab0ac8 65cdc62145a69990a.jpeg

https://xkcd.com/2559/

[visibility3miles]

Santa flies in a low earth orbit at night. No collision possible. ;-)

But he probably flies faster than the speed of light, which is impressive.

[ORAC]

I thought Santa flew Near-Earth Orbit Extremely Low (NOEL).

Id have to check NASA records for the first NOEL....

[India Four Two]

A very good video on the design and engineering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aICaAEXDJQQ

[Ninthace]

Heat shield now fully deployed and tensioned. JWT now the coolest thing in space!

[India Four Two]

BBC report on the heat shield:

There were many who doubted the wisdom of a design that included so many motors, gears, pulleys and cables.

But years of testing on full-scale and sub-scale models paid dividends as controllers first separated the shield's different layers and then tensioned them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59873738

Really good news.

[visibility3miles]

Secondary Mirror Deployment Confirmedhttps://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/05/secondary-mirror-deployment-confirmed/

[Theviewdownhere]

All fully deployed. What an amazing achievement

[wiggy]

All fully deployed. What an amazing achievement

It is indeed..:D

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/deploymentExplorer.html

[visibility3miles]

They did the burn for the insertion orbit around the L2 point

“Scientists and engineers operating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will answer questions about the mission’s latest milestones in a NASA Science Live broadcast at 3 p.m. EST Monday, Jan. 24, followed by a media teleconference at 4 p.m.“

https://www.nasa.gov/nasasciencelive

[ORAC]

https://phys.org/news/2022-02-webb-team-dots-starlight-hexagonal.html

Webb team brings 18 dots of starlight into hexagonal formation

[NineEighteen]

NASA have released a new image that they say demonstrates that JWST's optics are 'working successfully'. The image shows an extremely promising level of detail in the surrounding area of the star they arbitrarily chose to focus on. Which incidentally is 100 times feinter than you'd be able to see with the naked eye from Earth. :O

NASA’s Webb Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully | NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully)

[cavuman1]

I have been fighting terminal illness (COPD) for some time, having been told that I had a year to live on the Ides of March, 2014. The docs don't always get it right, especially when there's stubborn Swedish/Irish blood involved!

One of the reasons I fight to stay with you is to witness the incalculable grandeur and astounding beauty that the Webb Telescope promises to reveal. How deeply I admire those who have spent their careers placing this exquisite instrument at a precise Lagrange point to sample starlight sent billions of years ago. I stand in absolute awe of the immensity and variability of our Universe! The first pictures shall bring tears, I have no doubt.

We have become Columbus; but our sails are beryllium and our winds steady streams of electrons. The lands we glimpse supersede our most vivid imaginings. They shall inform us of our very beginnings.

- Ed

[TURIN]

Hang in there Cavuman. These images are going to be amazing.

[Theviewdownhere]

Beautifully said Cavuman.

Keep fighting. If the first image is anything to go by we are all in for a treat.

[visibility3miles]

“Astronomers Haven’t Been This Giddy in Years”

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/07/james-webb-space-telescope-nasa-first-pictures/670471/

“The James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images, set to be released in days, [July 12,] will signal the start of a new era in space science”.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/first-images-from-nasa-s-webb-space-telescope-coming-soon

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1952x1098/original_7e84d5dabab392ec1460653a01441dc18316589b.jpg
A few bright stars and lots of distant galaxies are visible in this test image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope in May. (Canadian Space Agency / NASA / FGS)

[visibility3miles]

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/first-james-webb-telescope-photo-unveiled-biden-rcna37549

July 10, 2022, 6:00 PM EDT
By Denise Chow

President Joe Biden will unveil the much-anticipated first full-color image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on Monday, agency officials confirmed.The image, known as "Webb's First Deep Field," will be the deepest and highest-resolution infrared view of the universe ever captured, showing myriad galaxies as they appeared up to 13 billion years in the past, according to NASA.

The agency and its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, are set to release a separate batch of full-color images from the Webb telescope on Tuesday, but Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the public will get a sneak peek a day early.

NASA will brief the president and the vice president on Monday, agency officials said, and the first image will be revealed at an event at 5 p.m. ET at the White House.

[zambonidriver]

I hear a lot of ESA people are less than happy by this publicity stunt...
Anyway let's see what comes ofnit

[cavuman1]

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/534x300/webb_first_image_3eb6d877106eb59e158bd680778538793647997d.jp g
First Image! WOW!

- Ed

[IFMU]

Pretty awesome. All images here, for those who had not found the link yet.
https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

[Theviewdownhere]

All amazing. Great programme on BBC2 tonight about the history of JWST.

Well worth a catch up if you missed it.

Hope you are keeping well cavu....and enjoying the latest discoveries as I am.

[cavuman1]

Thank you for your kind wishes, Theviewdownhere. Yes, I am still above ground and taking nutrition! Life is hard sometimes, but it beats the Heck out of the alternatives.

I am humbled and fascinated by the Webb images. We are so infinitesimally small and the Universe so, so, there's no word which describes it.

- Ed

[Theviewdownhere]

Keep fighting Cavu. Loads more images and science to come :-)

[ORAC]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/07/18/the-10-billion-webb-telescope-has-been-permanently-damaged-say-scientists/

The $10 Billion Webb Telescope Has Been Permanently Damaged, Say Scientists