Webb Telescope

[Alan CharlestonParticipant @alancharleston78882]

Hi,

Not model engineering but I would guess a lot of the people visiting this site are interested in the Webb Telescope. From liftoff to the first observation, there are 344 operations that must happen on the telescope. A failure of any one of them will result in an expensive piece of space junk. At present it is about 2/3 of the way to it's final position, with the various elements deploying as it goes.

NASA has created a great website (Webbsite?) showing its progress both in terms of distance travelled and progress in deploying the various elements. It's well worth a look.

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

Regards,

Alan C.

[Alan CharlestonParticipant @alancharleston78882]

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

Many thanks Alan C

John

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for sharing the link

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

It was good to read, yesterday, that the sunshield has been successfully deployed.

… That itself is an almost incredible achievement : **LINK**

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/sunshield-successfully-deploys-on-nasa-s-next-flagship-telescope

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 06/01/2022 08:36:38

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Great link thanks.

The secondary is deployed. As long as the two 'wings' of the mirror don't get stuck before reaching final position, it will hopefully be usable.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 06/01/2022 10:17:00

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

What a fantastic website, thanks for the link Michael. Dave W

[MikeKParticipant @mikek40713]

I'm very impressed by Webb's sophistication, and by the two Mars rovers that had to land using a sky crane. I'm guessing that computer modeling has helped a lot.

I'm glad Webb didn't wind up canceled due to overruns and delays. Now if it can just help me find my home planet.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Alan Charleston on 06/01/2022 05:18:32:

A failure of any one of them will result in an expensive piece of space junk.

Unless thing have changed grossly – and inexplicably – since I worked in that business, I would suggest that there's a little hyperbole in that (i.e. it comes from the publicity people rather than the Engineers … especially the Reliability Engineers).

That would amount to a single point failure.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Well … it’s fully deployed

… only another five months of setting-up to go !

**LINK**

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

MichaelG.

.

I think this is worth spending eight minutes on : **LINK**

[Mike HurleyParticipant @mikehurley60381]

Quite staggering! Thanks for the link to that short youtube video Michael.

regards Mike

[egaParticipant @ega]

MichaelG:

Your link took me here:

which also looked intriguing.

Incidentally, was it just coincidence that deployment took twelve days just like Christmas?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by ega on 09/01/2022 11:07:14:

MichaelG:

Your link took me here:

.

.

It’s difficult to imagine how it did that

MichaelG.

[egaParticipant @ega]

MichaelG:

Trying the link again got me there and I speculate that I somehow mistakenly called up the next video in the queue. Now I've got two to watch!

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for the confirmation, ega

All’s well that ends well.

MichaelG.

[James Hall 3Participant @jameshall3]

Undoubtedly a great scientific and engineering success (so far, at least). It says a great deal about the current world however that the Hubble telescope was named after one of the world's greatest ever astronomers while this is named after a NASA administrator.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by James Hall 3 on 09/01/2022 18:14:40:

.. It says a great deal about the current world however that the Hubble telescope was named after one of the world's greatest ever astronomers while this is named after a NASA administrator.

.

I think perhaps he deserves at least Administrator, with a capital A

… They wouldn’t have got far without him

**LINK**

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/whoIsJamesWebb.html

MichaelG.

[James Hall 3Participant @jameshall3]

Well, Michael Gilligan, let's hope his grasp of English punctuation was better than yours.

And, gosh, an organizational Web site gushing in praise of its former top administrator – who'd have thought it!

I wonder if engineers actually had anything to do with NASA's successes.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by James Hall 3 on 09/01/2022 23:07:17:

Well, Michael Gilligan, let's hope his grasp of English punctuation was better than yours.

[…]

.

Would you like to elaborate ?

MichaelG.

.

Hint: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codez/plans/Handbook00/chap2.html

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 09/01/2022 23:52:24

[Anonymous]

Posted by James Hall 3 on 09/01/2022 23:07:17:

I wonder if engineers actually had anything to do with NASA's successes.

Of course they (we) did.

I, for one, have no problem with the naming – nor I'm sure do most others. It's easy to jeer from the sidelines. James Webb was a leader who actually made a difference.

May I suggest you don't get into wine-making?

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I’m not inclined to waste the effort posting another News link, so I will just offer this quote as an “Engineering thought for the day”:

'To put this in perspective, if the Webb primary mirror were the size of the United States, each segment would be the size of Texas, and the team would need to line the height of those Texas-sized segments up with each other to an accuracy of about 1.5 inches,' NASA explained.’

MichaelG.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

The telescope is in an orbit around L2 (Lagrange 2).

The orbit is some 1.46 million km from earth on the side of the earth away from the sun, but not in earth’s shadow.

The axis of the orbit is perpendicular to the earth’s surface.

Having tried but failed to understand what forces keep the scope in orbit (besides occasional adjustments), I’d be pleased if someone could provide a clear explanation or an Internet link.

Sam

[MikeKParticipant @mikek40713]

There is a centrifugal force, from the JWST's speed around the Sun, pushing it further out. This is balanced against the force of gravity from the Sun and the Earth, pulling it in.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

That I understand Mike.

What is holding JWST in its own (perpendicular) orbit around L2?

Some sort of whirlpool or plug-hole effect perhaps?

Thanks for your quick response.

Sam

[MikeKParticipant @mikek40713]

I originally thought it was "love", but I know that can't be right.

[Sam StonesParticipant @samstones42903]

Good one Mike

Sam

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