James Webb "microshutters", cool stuff!

[Glaran K'erman]

Didn't know about this very nifty technique and tech being used by JWST!

[Vanamonde]

Neat.

[mellojoe]

Thats ... actually really cool.

[LordFerret]

Cool stuff. Time saver for sure. How long before we see results (wondering). That first guy sounds like Arnold.

[mellojoe]

JWT not scheduled to be launched until 2018, i think. Or is it 2019? Either way, still a couple years out from actually getting her up and operational. I can't wait. The entire JWT is a fascinating study. I hope the unfolding mechanism works. I've gotten to see scale models, and even those are massively complex. I secretly wish they put a "selfie" vid camera on it so we can watch it unfurl live.

21 foot primary mirror. Thats insane. And its like half the weight of Hubble. Granted, Hubble had its own design strategy (human serviceable, etc), but the fact of the matter is JWT is a suitable heir for the Hubble program.

[Frida Space]

I love and hate the JWST at the same time. It's gonna be a wonderful device which will produce mind-blowing results, but I can't stop thinking of all those planetary missions which were cancelled because of JWST...

[vger]

I'm sure there's a ridiculously simple answer for this, why couldn't this have been accomplished with liquid crystals?

[SAI Peregrinus]

Probably because liquid crystals aren't particularly transparent to IR, and it's an IR telescope. They need something with no distortion or attenuation (empty space) when open. Liquid crystals don't satisfy those constraints.

[Streetwind]

JWT not scheduled to be launched until 2018, i think. Or is it 2019? Either way, still a couple years out from actually getting her up and operational.

2018 it is, for now. Assembly has begun and apparently is nicely on schedule right now, so keep your fingers crossed that they don't hit any delays.