NASA nudges James Webb telescope launch date after 'sudden, unplanned' vibration incident:
The James Webb Space Telescope is a very big, very overdue and very sensitive project. After years of delays, it was supposed to launch on Dec. 18 and become the newest flagship observatory. The launch has now been moved to no earlier than Dec. 22 after an incident during launch preparations.
The telescope is in the process of getting together with the Ariane 5 rocket that will escort it into space. "A sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band — which secures Webb to the launch vehicle adapter — caused a vibration throughout the observatory," NASA said in a statement Monday.
[...] NASA expects to deliver an update on the telescope's condition at the end of the week.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Snotnose on Tuesday November 23 2021, @10:30PM (7 children)
They either dropped it, or one of the explosive bolts went off.
Either way this is bad news for a project that is decades behind schedule and billions of $$$ cost overrun.
I hope this damned thing works while I'm still alive, cuz it's been in the works for half of it.
I'm actually looking forward to first light, but am also wondering if we'd have been better off with 4-5 smaller scopes launched 10 years ago for half the budget.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @03:25AM (5 children)
That wouldn't merely cause a four day delay. Could be a minor hardware issue (like something returning warnings or such) or someone's missing a screwdriver.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:06AM (4 children)
I don't care about delays. My life is full of things delayed because I am not sure about something, and that paradigm has served me well and in the long term has saved me a lot of time, money, and frustration.
NASA: Do it right. I want to see what this JWST can do as much as anyone else, but have experienced haste makes waste all too many times. I know you are doing things no one has ever done before. Measure twice, and again , then cut.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:22AM (2 children)
This is the exact attitude that led to the budget ballooning and nearly 15 years of delays. NASA needs to change the way they handle space telescopes. Make them assembly line style, launch them on Starships. If they want a bigger one, make it modular and assemble it in orbit or at a space station.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 24 2021, @09:52AM (1 child)
I have seen many projects rushed to meet a deadline. They always end up costing more, and running later. Do it right, take the time.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday November 24 2021, @10:16AM
JWST is Too Big To Fail™ so it must be retested repeatedly at any expense.
NASA should build space telescopes in such a way that they can afford to have an entire one fail, or to have a segment fail. Or have a JWST-like unfolding telescope with lots of mechanical failure points checked at the ISS before being boosted to its final destination at L2 where it would supposedly be inaccessible for repairs.
The telescope that ate astronomy [nature.com]
It seems like the same mistakes will be repeated for the unambitious scaled down version of LUVOIR, because why bother learning? The contractors will still get paid.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:33AM
With this much delay, they've already done it wrong. Another problem is what happens if the JWST fails? It's got a huge risks before it can successfully deploy in space. I'm sure they have some spare parts and can do the measure thing twice again again, but that would be another huge delay.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Kell on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:07AM
The subtlety is that without doing some fancy phased signal processing games, smaller telescopes would not provide any substantial advantage. The goal of this is to get a larger aperture for resolving finer detail. While you can theoretically use multiple smaller receivers (eg. what they're doing with the SKA), that requires accurately known and consistent spatial arrangements that would be exceptionally difficult to manage in space. With our existing technology and capability, a multi-panel large reflector is our best bet. Alas, governments world wide have lost their abilities to properly fund, manage and execute on engineering projects.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Tuesday November 23 2021, @11:07PM (1 child)
That sounds bad. Isn't this thing rated for a rocket ship ride to space and a few G's?
Does this "Unexpected Vibration Event" pause, imply that whatever happened, caused a bigger shock than the launch itself?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday November 24 2021, @04:54PM
It sounds like it was an "unexpected vibration event" in the same sense that an earthquake is.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @11:22PM (1 child)
The egg has a shape engineered for strong forces along its longest axis.
No doubt equipment riding on top of a controlled explosion will have something similar.
An uncontrolled event in the wrong axis could cause serious damage.
Also, vibrations can ring it like a bell and if it was not in its dampening cage, waves could have caused cracks which present themselves now or worse at the Lagrange point.
Scrub the launch,
Run it here now on Earth through an entire mission completion,
then light the fire,
you only get one chance at this.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @03:59AM
Unless you make more. Economies of scale are the way to avoid this level of nail biting.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @12:39AM (2 children)
Maybe they should have asked SpaceX to launch it?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:01AM (1 child)
Found the misogynist! Why do you hate women? Why are you obsessed with raping women on the cuddle puddle couch? It's an obsession!
Let me click my projector on to max so that you will understand that only the real men at Boeing know how to treat the ladies right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:03PM
Musky boy really going off the deep end these days.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @02:52PM
It goes on and on. It's not just delay. It's not just ballooning costs. It's not just the massive delays in further science and research. There's this huge dysfunction which has greatly reduced the scientific capabilities of NASA with the obsession on building a few white elephants that suck resources that could have been used for a lot of science.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:12PM
I had a sudden controlled vibration incident once. Not nice, especially for my mom who had to clean is up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25 2021, @03:35AM
Probably some Woke supremacist unhappy about the name.