JWST discussion

[Brian in Mesa]

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Ready for Sunshield Deployment and Cooldown​

NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Ready for Sunshield Deployment and Cooldown

With Webb’s first major structural deployments completed and the observatory’s Deployable Tower Assembly extended, we are taking a step back to learn more about Webb’s sunshield. Observatory Project Scientist Michael McElwain, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, provided these thoughts: “The

scitechdaily.com

With Webb’s first major structural deployments completed and the observatory’s Deployable Tower Assembly extended, we are taking a step back to learn more about Webb’s sunshield. Observatory Project Scientist Michael McElwain, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, provided these thoughts:

“The Webb telescope and science instruments are ready to enter the shade, never again to see direct sunlight. One of Webb’s unique design features is using passive cooling by a five-layer sunshield to reach the telescope’s operational temperatures of 45 Kelvin (-380 degrees Fahrenheit). The enormous sunshield is about 70 by 47 feet (21 by 14 meters) when deployed, or approximately the size of a tennis court. The sunshield geometry and size were determined such that the telescope can point within a field of regard that covers 40% of the sky at any time and can observe anywhere in the sky over six months. This innovative architecture enables Webb’s sensitivity to be limited by the natural sky background (mostly zodiacal light) rather than being compromised by thermal glow of the observatory itself, for all wavelengths shorter than 15 microns, for the duration of the mission.

“For launch, the sunshield was folded like a parachute and stowed onto the forward and aft unitized pallet structures (UPSs). Both the telescope and sunshield’s support structures are mechanically connected to each other and the spacecraft bus in order to fit within the Ariane 5’s fairing and withstand the dynamic launch environment.

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[kevin_hall]

I'm Kevin, a newbie to here. I'm astronomy enthusiast, a great fan of astrophotography and space in general. Another passion of mine is basketball.

So, I've decided to create the James Webb Space Telescope thread. There is an essential reason for it: this telescope is the greatest we've ever created.

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Its main goal is to reveal the birth of galaxies and stars and look for planets to live on.
It was launched on December, 25 and now it is fully deployed.
It is heading to Lagrange point 2.
First photos are waited in June.

Useful links:
Live JWST:

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Lagrange points explanation:

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Neil deGrasse Tyson explains JWST:

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[Brian in Mesa]

Welcome.

This is definitely amazing stuff. I've been following it since its launch as well. I love how we can send something smaller into space and literally have it finish building itself as part of the mission. Gives me hope that one day we'll have a much larger international space station (more like a Deep Space Nine than what we currently have up there). I think any long-term space exploration will need some sort of station or port for ships to dock, refuel, etc.

 

[puckhead]

Great thread idea. Welcome to the board, @kevin_hall !

 

[puckhead]

Welcome.

This is definitely amazing stuff. I've been following it since its launch as well. I love how we can send something smaller into space and literally have it finish building itself as part of the mission. Gives me hope that one day we'll have a much larger international space station (more like a Deep Space Nine than what we currently have up there). I think any long-term space exploration will need some sort of station or port for ships to dock, refuel, etc.

The moon seems to be the most logical location. Low gravity, natural resources, relatively close to Earth, it checks a lot of boxes. Besides, it just looks cool. Not that I'm biased at all.

 

[puckhead]

Here's a page I enjoy checking on periodically.

Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb

During Webb's launch, deployment and commissioning, 'WhereIsWebb' tracked Webb's 'flight' to L2 orbit, its state and progress during its deployment and commissioning process, and finally the release of its first images. This process is now complete. During this process, the page constantly...

webb.nasa.gov

 

[kevin_hall]

Thanks for your report! So glad JWST is fully deployed, can't wait to receive the first photos!
It seems to be the most significant event of the year 2022. Hope the segments will be aligned properly

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Merged our threads so all of the James Webb discussion is in one place.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

James Webb Space Telescope reaches final stop million miles out​

NASA's new space telescope reaches final stop million miles out

The flight controllers were euphoric after chalking up another success.

www.chron.com

The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope arrived at its observation post 1 million miles from Earth on Monday, a month after it lifted off on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe.

On command, the James Webb Space Telescope fired its rocket thrusters for nearly five minutes to go into orbit around the sun at its designated location, and NASA confirmed the operation went as planned.

The mirrors on the $10 billion observatory still must be meticulously aligned, the infrared detectors sufficiently chilled and the scientific instruments calibrated before observations can begin in June.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

5 amazing facts about the James Webb Space Telescope​

MSN

In the month since the James Webb Space Telescope left Earth, it's traveled about one million miles, successfully deployed a giant sunshade, mirrors and other appendages — and, generally, left thousands of scientists feeling equal parts nervous and excited.

Now, the $10 billion telescope will spend the next 10-plus years exploring the depths of the cosmos and sending back baby pictures of our universe from its earliest days.

Of course, this isn't any ordinary telescope. In fact, it's 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been sending back stunning images of deep space for three decades.

But what else do you know about the most expensive and technologically-impressive telescope ever built?

More at the link:

MSN