James Webb Space Telescope Status Live Thread

[kevindavis007]

NASA completes major JWST deployments
https://spacenews.com/nasa-completes-major-jwst-deployments/

[Elderberry]

Webb Space Telescope Begins Its Months-Long Mirror Alignment

SciTechDaily 1/12/2022

https://scitechdaily.com/webb-space-telescope-begins-its-months-long-mirror-alignment/

Webb has begun the detailed process of fine-tuning its individual optics into one huge, precise telescope.

Engineers first commanded actuators – 126 devices that will move and shape the primary mirror segments, and six devices that will position the secondary mirror – to verify that all are working as expected after launch. The team also commanded actuators that guide Webb’s fine steering mirror to make minor movements, confirming they are working as expected. The fine steering mirror is critical to the process of image stabilization.

Ground teams have now begun instructing the primary mirror segments and secondary mirror to move from their stowed-for-launch configuration, off of snubbers that kept them snug and safe from rattling from vibration. These movements will take at least ten days, after which engineers can begin the three-month process of aligning the segments to perform as a single mirror.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jk1F6FDiAI

[Kamaji]

Thanks for the updates!

Still got all my fingers crossed, though.

[Elderberry]

What will the James Webb Space Telescope look at first?

Space.com By Elizabeth Howell 1/14/2022

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-first-observing-targets

"The first images are going to be ugly."

As the James Webb Space Telescope begins the lengthy process of aligning its 18 primary mirror segments, a question burns in the astronomical community: What will the huge observatory look at first?

Webb soared into space successfully on Dec. 25 and successfully completed its major deployments about two weeks later while speeding toward its ultimate destination: the Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a gravitationally stable spot in space about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from our planet.

The telescope includes 18 hexagonal mirror segments that need to be gradually aligned into a single, nearly perfect light-collecting surface. A necessary part of that process is taking images of the sky to see how well the alignment is proceeding, but Jane Rigby, Webb operations project scientist, warned everyone not to expect much from the "first light" of Webb.

"The first images are going to be ugly. It is going to be blurry. We'll [have] 18 of these little images all over the sky," Rigby told reporters during a livestreamed press conference on Saturday (Jan. 8) discussing the successful deployment of Webb's 21.3-foot-wide (6.3 meters) primary mirror that day. Rigby was speaking from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where telescope operations are centered.

[Elderberry]

The Webb telescope reaches its final deployment challenge

Inverse by Jon Kelvey 1/20/2022

https://www.inverse.com/science/whats-next-now-that-webbs-mirror-is-complete

As of Wednesday, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has a fully deployed primary mirror, with each of its 18-mirror segments fully extended and ready for fine focusing later. That leaves one final task for JWST before reaching its destination for operations — an orbital insertion burn expected to take place Monday, January 24.

As of Thursday afternoon, JWST was barely 35,000 miles from its destination, Lagrangian point 2 (L2), around 1 million miles from Earth. A point where the Sun and Earth’s gravity cancel out, orbit L2 allows JWST to maintain a constant position relative to Earth as they both orbit the Sun.

Once in orbit around L2, JWST’s optics and instruments will undergo more months of fine-tuning and testing before the historically powerful space telescope begins peering deep into the distant reaches of time and space.

If all goes well and according to plan, ground operators will fire JWST’s thrusters at 2 p.m. Eastern on Monday, and the space telescope will finally take up its deep space perch shortly thereafter. NASA will host a live broadcast about JWST’s successes so far at 3 p.m. on the space agency’s YouTube channel, NASA Science Live website, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

But arrival at L2 marks only the end of one portion of JWST’s journey. With all deployments out of the way, JWST will enter the commissioning phase, beginning with what NASA calls the “wavefront process.”

The wavefront process will see ground operators use the six actuators attached to each of the now free-to-move mirror segments to make nanometer-scale adjustments to ensure the 18 segments focus light as one large primary mirror. This process of aligning the mirror segments so that JWST produces focused images will take about three months.

Following the mirror alignment, JWST’s scientific instruments must be calibrated and tested, which will take many more weeks. NASA expects JWST’s first scientific observations to begin sometime in the summer.

[Elderberry]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reaches its final destination after million-mile journey

Houston Chronicle by Andrea Leinfelder 1/24/2022

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/NASA-s-James-Webb-Space-Telescope-reaches-its-16800450.php

The James Webb Space Telescope has traveled nearly 1 million miles to its final destination, completing another milestone in a months-long commissioning that must be completed before Webb will take its first images this summer.

“Webb, welcome home!” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a news release. “Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb’s safe arrival. We’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe.”

The telescope will orbit the sun at the second sun-Earth Lagrange point. This Lagrange point, named for 18th century Italian astronomer and mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, is a location where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth are in equilibrium.

[Kamaji]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reaches its final destination after million-mile journey

Houston Chronicle by Andrea Leinfelder 1/24/2022

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/space/article/NASA-s-James-Webb-Space-Telescope-reaches-its-16800450.php

Time to slap the badge on!

[mystery-ak]

Forget Biden: We Just Parked a Telescope a Million Miles in Space to Peer Deep Into the Origins of Time
By Andrew Malcolm | Jan 25, 2022 9:00 AM ET

This story is not for cynics, nor folks who lack imagination or national pride.

After nearly 40 expensive years of dreaming, planning, designing, building, congressional whining, testing, and hoping, NASA and its army of very smart people have placed into solar orbit a powerful new seven-ton telescope.

It’s capable of detecting infrared light that’s been traveling through the void of space at the speed of light since the earliest moments in time. That is to say, more than 13 billion Earth years ago.

The new telescope’s success so far is just one of our nation’s numerous recent space achievements: Landing robots to explore Mars. Flying a research robot through the Sun’s aura. Snatching a scoop of primordial soil from a distant asteroid and bringing it back in the fall of 2023.

And, of course, little Voyager I launched in 1977 now 10 years into interstellar space nearly 15 billion miles away and adding 38,210 more every hour. The loyal little craft still reports in daily via radio signals that take 19 hours to reach NASA’s giant Goldstone dish in California.

more
https://redstate.com/andrewmalcolm/2022/01/25/forget-biden-we-just-parked-a-telescope-a-million-miles-in-space-to-peer-deep-into-the-origins-of-time-n512198

[Elderberry]

Future dreams in view as Canadian instruments power up aboard James Webb Space Telescope

The Globe and Mail by Ivan Semeniuk 1/28/2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-future-dreams-in-view-as-canadian-instruments-power-up-aboard-james/

Five weeks after rocketing off the Earth, two Canadian components that are crucial to the operations and success of the James Webb Space Telescope are set to face their first big test.

On Friday morning, the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) were switched on for the first time since the mammoth astronomical satellite was launched on Christmas Day. Both instruments were built in Ottawa by the Canadian aerospace company COM DEV, which has since become part of Honeywell International.

The successful activation of the instruments was announced by the Canadian Space Agency, which is a partner in the joint North American-European project. It marks a major milestone for the agency as well as the Canadian scientists and engineers who first began working on the project more than two decades ago – and who now hope the momentum it generates will propel Canada to commit to a future space telescope of its own.

he contribution is also about as critical as it gets. NIRISS is seen as key to the telescope’s quest to characterize the atmospheres of planets in other solar systems, one of its most anticipated science goals. And if the Fine Guidance Sensor were to fail, the telescope would be unable to hold its gaze steadily enough to capture revealing images of the deep cosmos and a host of other celestial objects on astronomers’ wish lists.

“Everything had to work up to this point and it has, so mostly it’s been a great relief, but we’re not there yet,” said Dr. Hutchings, who is officially retired from the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre in Victoria, but remains active in the research community.

“For me, the big-ticket item is when we close the loop between the guidance system and the attitude control system,” said Erick Dupuis, director of Space Exploration Development at the Canadian Space Agency. “This is when we’re going to start pointing the spacecraft using the FGS – and this is what it was designed for.”

Once all the instruments are fully checked and operational – a process that is expected to take another four to five months – the FGS will use stars as guideposts to make sure the telescope stays precisely on target while it acquires its images. As long as at least three stars are in its field of view at any time, the Canadian sensor can keep the telescope from drifting off target.

More at link.

[Smokin Joe]

@catfish1957

Frankly,I am amazed when ANYTHING goes right. There are literally thousands of little things that can go wrong and kill a mission. Some of them are things like tiny little transistors that only cost pennies.

These engineers and mechanics have my utmost respect.

MIne, too, @sneakypete. The GFF on this has to be astronomical...

[Gefn]

I can’t wait to start seeing photos from this.

I don’t think I’ll have the words to describe the beautiful and amazing things the Webb telescope will find

[Smokin Joe]

I can’t wait to start seeing photos from this.

I don’t think I’ll have the words to describe the beautiful and amazing things the Webb telescope will find

I agree!

[catfish1957]

MIne, too, @sneakypete. The GFF on this has to be astronomical...

I just read that this thing is out 1.5 million miles from earth in orbit of the sun. (5x distance of the moon) That's amazing.  I wonder how they are going to do any heavy lifting maintenance and repair.

[catfish1957]

I agree!

Can you imagine if they find that there are an infinity amount of universes like ours?   Corbe will have to pass the bong.

[Gefn]

Can you imagine if they find that there are an infinity amount of universes like ours?   Corbe will have to pass the bong.

I actually do believe there are parallel universes. It’s an interesting idea.

[sneakypete]

Can you imagine if they find that there are an infinity amount of universes like ours?   

@catfish1957

Frankly,I lack the imagination to even guess at what they will find.

At this point in my life,nothing would surprise me,though. Please me,for sure. Maybe even scare me a little or put me in a permanent state of awe,but nothing would surprise me.

[sneakypete]

I actually do believe there are parallel universes. It’s an interesting idea.

@Gern

Frankly,I don't know what to believe,other than a LOT of the stuff they do discover may put me in a permanent state of awe.

I seriously doubt I am going to be surprised,though. After all,the universe is endless because how CAN there be an end to it? If there WERE to be an end,what is on the other side,and where does IT end?

And we ALL "know" that nothing is endless,right?

[Gefn]

@Gern

Frankly,I don't know what to believe,other than a LOT of the stuff they do discover may put me in a permanent state of awe.

I seriously doubt I am going to be surprised,though. After all,the universe is endless because how CAN there be an end to it? If there WERE to be an end,what is on the other side,and where does IT end?

And we ALL "know" that nothing is endless,right?

@sneakypete

The universe boggles my mind. For example one day in several billion years, the Andromeda galaxy will collide with the Milky Way. I can’t help think one day the entire universe might collide into another Big Bang, and the whole process starts again.

The above statement might be incorrect but it did occur on “Futureama”

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

The above statement might be incorrect but it did occur on “Futureama”

@Gefn

You are not trying to tell me you think your teabe would lie to you,are you?

[Gefn]

@Gefn

You are not trying to tell me you think your teabe would lie to you,are you?

Well, I know that Bender is great. Lol. @sneakypete

[sneakypete]

Well, I know that Bender is great. Lol. @sneakypete

@Gefn

Good choice of words. Bender is not know for playing well with others.

@

[Elderberry]

NASA to Discuss Webb Telescope Progress, Mirror Alignment

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-discuss-webb-telescope-progress-mirror-alignment

NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 11, to share progress made in the early stages of aligning the James Webb Space Telescope’s mirrors. The agency will livestream audio of the teleconference on its website.

Engineers and scientists will review the first weeks of the months-long alignment process and discuss early imagery that shows how the Webb team has identified starlight through each of telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirror segments. NASA will make this imagery available at 10:30 a.m. before the call on the Webb telescope blog.

Teleconference participants include:

•   Lee Feinberg, Webb optical telescope element manager, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland

•   Marshall Perrin, Webb deputy telescope scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore

•   Marcia Rieke, principal investigator for the NIRCam instrument and regents professor of astronomy, University of Arizona in Tucson

To ask questions during the teleconference, media must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the event to Natasha Pinol at: natasha.r.pinol@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

The Webb team has begun to fine-tune the telescope using images captured by its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). The early engineering imagery produced during this stage in the process, called “segment image identification,” stitches together more than 1,000 images to form 18 unfocused versions of a single star. This serves as the starting point for gradually aligning Webb’s mirror segments into one precise system.

Following the telescope’s alignment over the next several months, the Webb team will then move on to prepare the instruments for science observations and release the mission's first science images and data in the summer.

Webb, an international partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, launched Dec. 25 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. After unfolding into its final form in space and successfully reaching its destination 1 million miles from Earth, the observatory is now in the months-long process of preparing for science operations.

Webb will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, and everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.

NASA has a digital media kit for web as well as image and video galleries online. The public also can follow Webb’s progress via a “Where is Webb?” interactive tracker.

For more information about the Webb mission, visit: https://webb.nasa.gov

[Elderberry]

James Webb Space Telescope Successfully Sends Back First Images

Legal Insurrection by Leslie Eastman 2/13/2022

https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/02/james-webb-space-telescope-successfully-sends-back-first-images/

We have been following the travels of the James Webb Space Telescope, and it has arrived at is destination one million miles from Earth.

The instrument has now sent back its first images as part of the complex process of aligning its array of mirror.

    The first images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope were unveiled Friday: a “selfie” showing the observatory’s 21.3-foot-wide primary mirror and a mosaic showing multiple images of a nondescript star being used to align the 18 segments making up the telescope’s main mirror.

    While the blurry, misaligned pictures might disappoint the uninitiated, they are almost exactly what engineers were expecting at this point in the observatory’s complex commissioning, 48 days after its Christmas Day launch.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwatKpla8s&t=6s

[Elderberry]

Webb team brings 18 dots of starlight into hexagonal formation

Phys.org by Alise Fisher, NASA 2/19/2022

https://phys.org/news/2022-02-webb-team-dots-starlight-hexagonal.html


This early Webb alignment image, with dots of starlight arranged in a pattern similar to the honeyco...

The James Webb Space Telescope team continues to make progress in aligning the observatory's mirrors. Engineers have completed the first stage in this process, called "Segment Image Identification." The resulting image shows that the team has moved each of Webb's 18 primary mirror segments to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a planned hexagonal formation.

With the image array complete, the team has now begun the second phase of alignment: "Segment Alignment." During this stage, the team will correct large positioning errors of the mirror segments and update the alignment of the secondary mirror, making each individual dot of starlight more focused. When this "global alignment" is complete, the team will begin the third phase, called "Image Stacking," which will bring the 18 spots of light on top of each other.

More: https://phys.org/news/2022-02-webb-team-dots-starlight-hexagonal.html

[Polly Ticks]

Webb team brings 18 dots of starlight into hexagonal formation

Very cool to see those interim steps taking place.  Thanks for posting.