James Webb Space Telescope Status Live Thread

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1474787477760184322

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1474846737495953415

[kevindavis007]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGu5RuGuhYQ

[Kamaji]

How long before it starts coming on line with images?

[Elderberry]

How long before it starts coming on line with images?

'29 days on the edge:' What's next for NASA's newly launched James Webb Space Telescope

Space.com By Mike Wall 12/26/2021

https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-next-steps

Launch kicked off a long journey for the $10 billion observatory.

NASA's next big space observatory is finally aloft, but it'll be a while before it starts its highly anticipated science mission.

The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana yesterday (Dec. 25), kicking off a long-delayed, potentially transformative mission to study the early universe, nearby exoplanets and more. Telescope team members (and the rest of us) will have to remain patient, however, for Webb has a lot of work to do before it gets up and running.

The telescope is headed for the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a gravitationally stable spot 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from our planet in the direction of Mars. It'll take 29 days for Webb to get there, and there will be lots of nail-biting action for the telescope along the way.

"The Webb observatory has 50 major deployments … and 178 release mechanisms to deploy those 50 parts," Webb Mission Systems Engineer Mike Menzel, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a deployment-explaining video called "29 Days on the Edge" that the agency posted in October.

"Every single one of them must work," Menzel said. "Unfolding Webb is hands-down the most complicated spacecraft activity we’ve ever done."

Webb has notched a few major milestones already. About half an hour after liftoff, for example, it deployed its solar panels and started soaking up energy from the sun. And last night, the big telescope performed a crucial 65-minute engine burn that put it on course for L2.

The following is a brief rundown of the big steps yet to come. (For more detail, see NASA's Webb deployment site.) The timelines given are approximate; Webb team members have stressed that the deployment schedule is flexible, so don't panic if the times and dates shift a bit, or if some things occur out of order.

One day after launch, Webb will rotate its high-gain antenna toward Earth to further facilitate communications with its handlers. A day after that, the spacecraft will perform another engine burn to refine its trajectory toward L2. And three days after launch, the pallet holding Webb's huge sunshield — a five-layer structure designed to keep the infrared telescope and its instruments cool — will be lowered.

Each of the shield's five sheets is about the size of a tennis court when fully extended, far too wide to fit inside the payload fairing of any currently operational rocket. So the sunshield launched in a compact configuration and must be unfurled.

This is an incredibly complex process. The sunshield structure has 140 release mechanisms, 70 hinge assemblies, 400 pulleys, 90 cables and eight deployment motors, all of which have to work properly for the five layers to deploy as planned, NASA officials said in the video.

The protective cover will come off the sunshield at five days after launch, and its booms will extend a day later. Sunshield deployment should be complete by eight days after liftoff, at which point team members will start shifting their focus to the optics.

At around 10 days after launch, Webb will extend its 2.4-foot-wide (0.74 meters) secondary mirror, which is so named because it's the second surface that deep-space photons will hit on their way to the scope's instruments.

More at link.

[Elderberry]

Tim Urban
@waitbutwhy

The James Webb mirror is a 6.5m/21ft beast. It can also see infrared light way better than Hubble, which will reveal galaxies so far away they’re redshifted beyond the visible spectrum. It’ll show us the first stars and formation of the first galaxies - our best time machine yet.

[Kamaji]

Tim Urban
@waitbutwhy

The James Webb mirror is a 6.5m/21ft beast. It can also see infrared light way better than Hubble, which will reveal galaxies so far away they’re redshifted beyond the visible spectrum. It’ll show us the first stars and formation of the first galaxies - our best time machine yet.

Thanks!!

[corbe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGLKQ7_KZQ

[Elderberry]

Why the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield deployment takes so long

Space.com By Mike Wall 12/31/2021

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-sunshield-deployment-explainer

It's a very complicated endeavor.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is three days into the deployment of its massive sunshield — and it still has about three days to go.

The $10 billion Webb launched on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) to seek out heat signals from the early universe. To pick up these faint signals, the observatory's optics and instruments must be kept extremely cold, and that's where the sunshield comes in.

The five-layer structure will reflect sunlight and radiate heat extremely efficiently, allowing Webb to maintain its "cold side" at a frosty minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 223 degrees Celsius) or so, if all goes according to plan. The observatory's sun-facing "hot side," by contrast, will be around 230 degrees F (110 degrees C), NASA officials wrote in a Webb sunshield explainer.

The kite-shaped sunshield measures 69.5 feet long by 46.5 feet wide (21.2 by 14.2 meters). That's far too large to fit inside the payload fairing of any currently operational rocket, so the structure lifted off in a highly compact configuration and must now unfurl in space.

That operation is incredibly complex, involving many different nail-biting, time-consuming steps.

"Webb's sunshield assembly includes 140 release mechanisms, approximately 70 hinge assemblies, eight deployment motors, bearings, springs, gears, about 400 pulleys and 90 cables totaling 1,312 feet [400 m]," Webb spacecraft systems engineer Krystal Puga said in "29 Days on the Edge," a video about Webb's deployments that NASA posted in October.

"All this just to keep the sunshield under control as it unfolds," added Puga, who works for the aerospace company Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the Webb mission.

That unfolding began on Tuesday (Dec. 28) with the sequential deployment of two pallets that contain the sunshield structure. Webb took the next step on Wednesday (Dec. 29), extending its Deployable Tower Assembly, a move that, among other things, created room for the sunshield membranes to unfurl.

Two more milestones came on Thursday (Dec. 30): Webb released the cover that had protected the sunshield during ground operations and launch and also deployed its "aft momentum flap," which will help the observatory maintain its orientation and position without using too much fuel.

"As photons of sunlight hit the large sunshield surface, they will exert pressure on the sunshield, and if not properly balanced, this solar pressure would cause rotations of the observatory that must be accommodated by its reaction wheels," NASA public affairs specialist Alise Fisher wrote in a blog post on Thursday. "The aft momentum flap will sail on the pressure of these photons, balancing the sunshield and keeping the observatory steady."

More at link.

[Gefn]

Bookmark

🪐 🪐

[Elderberry]

Live coverage: Final tensioning of Webb telescope’s sunshield underway

Spaceflight Now 1/4/2022

Live coverage of the mission of the James Webb Space Telescope. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg

[Kamaji]

How is the deployment going so far?

[Elderberry]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is ‘hunky-dory’ after problems fixed

Los Angeles Times by MARCIA DUNN 1/4/2022

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2022-01-04/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-is-hunky-dory-after-problems-fixed

NASA’s new space telescope is on the verge of completing the riskiest part of its mission — unfolding and tightening a huge sunshade — after ground controllers fixed a pair of problems, officials said.

The tennis-court-size sun shield on the James Webb Space Telescope is now fully open and in the process of being stretched tight. The operation should be complete by Wednesday.

Getting the sun shield extended on Friday “was really a huge achievement for us,” said project manager Bill Ochs. All 107 release pins opened properly.

But there have been a few obstacles.

Flight controllers in Maryland had to reset Webb’s solar panel to draw more power. The observatory — considered the successor to previous space telescopes including the aging Hubble — was never in any danger, with a constant power flow, said Amy Lo, a lead engineer for the telescope’s prime contractor, Northrop Grumman.

They also repointed the telescope to limit sunlight on six overheating motors. The motors cooled enough to begin securing the sun shield, a three-day process that can be halted if the problem crops up again, officials said.

“Everything is hunky-dory and doing well now,” Lo said.

[Kamaji]

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is ‘hunky-dory’ after problems fixed

Los Angeles Times by MARCIA DUNN 1/4/2022

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2022-01-04/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-is-hunky-dory-after-problems-fixed
 

@Elderberry


Thanks!

[corbe]

   YES, Thank you @Elderberry

[Elderberry]

@Kamaji
@corbe

My Pleasure.

Space has been in my blood since I discovered science fiction in the Elementary school library. Once I learned to read.  I was jazzed being able to support NASA for 30 yrs as a subcontractor. Now my Oldest is supporting Space down at Boca Chica. He is in my avatar sitting in the Observation Cupola used on the Inspiration-4 Mission.

[Elderberry]

James Webb Space Telescope nails secondary mirror deployment

Space.com by Tereza Pultarova 1/5/2022

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-secondary-mirror-deployed

"We actually have a telescope."

The James Webb Space Telescope achieved another major milestone today, successfully extending its secondary mirror as it continues to sail seamlessly through its never-before-conducted deployment sequence on the way to its destination.

The 2.4-foot-wide (0.74 meters) secondary mirror sits attached to a tripod opposite the main mirror. Its task is to concentrate the light collected by the gold-coated main mirror into an opening at the main mirror's center. Through this opening, the light reaches the third mirror, which reflects it to the telescope's instruments.

The secondary mirror travelled to space stowed on top of the main mirror, attached to three 26-feet-long (8 m) legs that form its supporting tripod.

On Wednesday (Jan. 5), operators at Webb's operations center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore released latches that secured the legs in place during launch. After having first performed a very small move to ensure the motors worked well, they then commenced the deployment procedure, which saw the legs extend and fall into place over the course of 10 minutes. NASA streamed the maneuver live with commentary on its TV channel.

The confirmation that the mirror was in place arrived at about 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT). The operators then took another 30 minutes to lock the tripod in place with several latches to ensure it will remain stable for the duration of Webb's at least ten-year scientific mission.

[sneakypete]

I don't give a Biden who you  are,this is one pretty damn impressive mass of engineering!

[Elderberry]

James Webb Space Telescope deploys radiator to keep cool

Space.com by Meghan Bartels 1/6/2022

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-radiator-deployed

A final latch unhooked to deploy the radiator into place, clearing the way for final mirror unfolding steps.

NASA's new high-tech, low-temp observatory observatory is one step closer to gathering some cool science.

The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Dec. 25 and has spent its time in space so far executing a complicated sequence of deployments to unfold the telescope to its final configuration. On Thursday (Jan. 6), the mission team notched another step of that sequence when at about 8:48 a.m. EST (1348 GMT), the telescope's Aft Deployable Instrument Radiator (ADIR) swung into place, according to a NASA statement.

The ADIR is a 4 foot (1.2 meters) by 8 foot (2.4 m) panel attached to the back of the observatory and connected by aluminum foil straps to Webb's instruments. The radiator is covered in honeycomb cells with an ultra-black surface, allowing the mechanism to pull heat away from the observatory instruments and send it into space, according to NASA.

An animation showing the deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope's Aft Deployed Instrument Radiator.

[Elderberry]

Three BIG updates for the James Webb Space Telescope

#unfoldtheuniverse  Dr Becky

I thought Christmas break was supposed to be relaxing?! Stress levels are still high here but there was three pieces of very good news these past few days we should chat about! #unfoldtheuniverse


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Q5vP3R-2M

[Polly Ticks]

It appears to be going remarkably well.  Here's hoping it continues to be a resounding success.

[Elderberry]

James Webb Space Telescope has unfolded 1st wing of massive golden mirror

Space.com by  Meghan Bartels 1/7/2022

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-1st-primary-mirror-deploy

The iconic golden mirror of NASA's massive new observatory is taking shape.

The James Webb Space Telescope unfolded the panel that carries the three leftmost segments of its hexagonal gold-coated primary mirror on Friday (Jan. 7). Nearly two weeks after the observatory's launch, the successful maneuver brings the telescope close to its final form.

"Webb's iconic primary mirror is taking its final shape. Today, the first of two primary mirror wings, or side panels, was deployed and latched successfully," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

Team members will repeat the process on the right, or starboard, side of the observatory on Saturday (Jan. 8). NASA has said it will broadcast the procedure live from mission control beginning around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).

[kevindavis007]

Fully Deployed!!!!!

https://twitter.com/trackjwst/status/1479913633811468288

[kevindavis007]

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1479909293189173249

[Kamaji]

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1479909293189173249

Cool!!