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posted by janrinok on Tuesday November 23 2021, @07:55PM   Printer-friendly
from the burp dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Snotnose on Tuesday November 23 2021, @10:30PM (7 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Tuesday November 23 2021, @10:30PM (#1199064)

    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.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @03:25AM (5 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 24 2021, @03:25AM (#1199124) Journal

    They either dropped it, or one of the explosive bolts went off.

    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)

      by anubi (2828) on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:06AM (#1199158) Journal

      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.

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      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:22AM (2 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:22AM (#1199161) Journal

        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.

        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.

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        • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 24 2021, @09:52AM (1 child)

          by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday November 24 2021, @09:52AM (#1199192)

          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

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 24 2021, @10:16AM (#1199193) Journal

            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.

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      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:33AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 24 2021, @05:33AM (#1199164) Journal

        Do it right.

        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

    by Kell (292) on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:07AM (#1199169)

    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.

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