The James Webb Space Telescope and stuff

[Admiral Fluffy]

1 hour ago, Spaceception said:

Aw, come on, I missed the whole launch. I mean, that removes some of the stress but still

Me too.  I even set an alarm, but it didn’t wake me up.

[StrandedonEarth]

My alarm woke me up, and the bird was already  20km off the ground. I watched it clear the soup and then went back to sleep before MECO. 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

My 11 y.o. warned me last night to expect to be woken up at zero dark thirty.  I relied on her. 

At 7:30 EST my 14 y.o. asked in his newly deep voice, 'Dad, are we going to do Christmas?'. (He then had to wake up his sister! :p ) 

She held me to the promise to only watch the video - loved being able to see the deployment! 

Amazing how much tension a video has 

[Spaceception]

The title needs to be changed now. JWST: it's in space!

[kerbiloid]

It was always in space.
Just now it isn't moving around the planet CoM circularly due to the planet rotation and the force of friction, but is moving around it circularly in the gravity field due to inertia. That's all.

P.S.
Are they aware that the telescope mod they use is for 1.10?

[Entropian]

Slightly off-topic; do any of y'all know of a website/program that can show the celestial coordinates of JWST?  Thinking I might be able to catch it in my telescope but so far my google-fu has been without results.

[kerbiloid]

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

But it's probably on the way to L2?

[linuxgurugamer]

7 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

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

But it's probably on the way to L2?

Not yet, look at the schedule, probably about 7pm or so

[cubinator]

1 minute ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Not yet, look at the schedule, probably about 7pm or so

It's not in LEO. The mid course corrections are to complete the maneuver to intercept L2, but the spacecraft is already leaving Earth.

[kerbiloid]

3 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Not yet, look at the schedule, probably about 7pm or so

I mean, it's not on a stable orbit to publish its ephemeris.

[cubinator]

I don't see any TLEs right now

[tater]

Missed launch, my buddy at MCC texted me this morning:
 

Quote

 

Big problem reported with Webb. NASA supposed to have a news conference shortly.

They forgot to take the lens cap off.

 

I saw it as a notification that truncated everything after the first line and freaked out.

Now I need to troll him.

 

Hopefully all the deployments work!

[kerbiloid]

Luckily, it's on CKAN, so at least the software updates will run automatically, unlike on the Voyagers.

 

[RuBisCO]

Watching that launch was extra scary considering the price tag and astronomical advancements this telescope represents. We still have 6 more months before everything ins unfolded and checked out.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Well - if it all works out right: a Christmas launch and a birthday 'reveal' of the science / pics.

 

[SOXBLOX]

Ahhhhhh...

That relief you feel when your probably-irrational fear that the Ariane would blow up on launch is assuaged.

Merry Christmas, universe!

[HebaruSan]

Mid Course Correction Burn 1a supposedly went fine.

Does anyone know how much delta V it was? I saw that it was 65 minutes long, for what that's worth, but I don't know the TWR (presumably tiny?) or the specific impulse.

Also, for those who prefer a checklist/timeline style:

https://spaceexplored.com/2021/12/25/how-to-track-james-webb-space-telescope-mission-timeline/

Edited December 26, 2021 by HebaruSan

[kcs123]

I was always assumed that they will complete all necessary orbital burns and unfold everything after that. It seems that it is not a case.  It will be fully deployed ~17 days before final burn.

[RCgothic]

I hadn't realised Webb's design life was just 5 years of science:

Up to a little over 10 years if the L2 injection burn by the upper stage was perfect and little in the way of mid course corrections are required.

One the fuel is gone, Webb will lose its ability to remain at L2 and keep the sunshade between itself and the sun.

Unlike Hubble, which doesn't need to consume fuel to maintain its more-stable orbit in LEO.

[Spaceception]

6 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

Snip

Up to a little over 10 years if the L2 injection burn by the upper stage was perfect and little in the way of mid course corrections are required.

One the fuel is gone, Webb will lose its ability to remain at L2 and keep the sunshade between itself and the sun.

Unlike Hubble, which doesn't need to consume fuel to maintain its more-stable orbit in LEO.

What are the possibilities that NASA will request funding for a servicing mission once JWST is in position? Is it even possible? I saw somewhere that exhaust gas from a spacecraft going to rendezvous could hit the mirror of the telescope.

Edited December 26, 2021 by Spaceception

[RCgothic]

10 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

What are the possibilities that NASA will request funding for a servicing mission once JWST is in position? Is it even possible? I saw somewhere that exhaust gas from a spacecraft going to rendezvous could hit the mirror of the telescope.

The article is wrong in one respect - there is a crewed spaceship under design that could make it.out to L2 for a servicing mission. Starship could theoretically be made to have enough endurance and capability.

However, it's true that Webb has no grapple fixture and no serviceable parts. There's no way to refuel it as far as I can tell.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

11 minutes ago, RCgothic said:

There's no way to refuel it as far as I can tell.

Wonder if it could be captured and returned?

[RCgothic]

6 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Wonder if it could be captured and returned?

Again, it has no grapple fixture, and no ability to furl its sunshade to withstand any significant thrust.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Just now, RCgothic said:

Again, it has no grapple fixture, and no ability to furl its sunshade to withstand any significant thrust.

Ah.

Well... given that Webb was designed at a time when lift was expensive and capacity smaller than we anticipate it will be in 5 years... perhaps the prudent thing to do would be to build, in 5-7 years a New Webb that can be emplaced by something larger like SS or other in-development rockets?

[RCgothic]

3 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Ah.

Well... given that Webb was designed at a time when lift was expensive and capacity smaller than we anticipate it will be in 5 years... perhaps the prudent thing to do would be to build, in 5-7 years a New Webb that can be emplaced by something larger like SS or other in-development rockets?

That would indeed be smart.

Unfortunately the next flagship observatory, LUVOIR/HabEX is not currently being designed to take advantage of increased size and capacity. It'll be smaller than Webb and not due for completion until the 2040s.