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from the looking-forward-to-first-light dept.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope passes crucial launch-simulation tests:
NASA's next big space telescope just took another step toward its highly anticipated 2021 launch.
The $9.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope has passed "environmental testing," a series of trials designed to simulate the considerable rigors of launch, NASA officials announced today (Oct. 6).
"The successful completion of our observatory environmental tests represent[s] a monumental milestone in the march to launch," Webb project manager Bill Ochs, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said today in a statement. "Environmental testing demonstrates Webb's ability to survive the rocket ride to space, which is the most violent portion of its trip to orbit approximately a million miles from Earth."
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:28PM (1 child)
Boy that would suck if that Ariane5 had an RUD when launching the JWST. All that pain and cost for nothing.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 08 2020, @09:54PM
Nature of the biz. You spend a decent chunk of your working career, say, on a planetary probe, then have it be DOA or something. It isn't wasted time and effort for the skills and experience you develop (and if you're lucky, you've gotten a number of refereed pubs and/or conference talks out of it), but it is a major major disappointment nonetheless.