This morning the James Webb telescope launched without any problems. It is now heading toward that one special Lagrange point in space. I bet there are a million people wiping their brow in relief, however there are hundreds of other operations that have to go perfectly smooth for it to be a success.
A few interesting facts about this incredible project.
The fuel along weighs in at over 350 tons, takes almost 2 hours to fuel up.
Later in the journey the thrusters have to fire at just the right moment or the rocket will keep going forever out into deep space where we will never see or hear of it again.
The mirrors have been designed to be warped on Earth meaning any images from them from Earth would be completely blurry. When they get into the correct position, the minus 280 degrees environment will warp them into perfect mirros that will provide sharp images.
As of yet, there is no way to repair or correct any part of the telescope unless it can be done in software. No corrective camera would be possible this time.
The solar shields are as big as a football field, paper thin, and have to unfold perfectly or else the mirrors will be too warm to warp into the correct shape.
The mirrors were tested in Texas some time ago, and during that test there was a hurricane. They had to put out pans to catch the water leaking though the ceiling, and had to sleep there at the test site. The mirrors were put into a vacuum chamber and luckily that did not get affected by the weather.
It's been an incredible 20 year journey, some people working on it for 30 years, and it's not over yet. It's going to take 6 months before the entire unfolding and testing is completed so we wont get any images for at least that time.
So still a long way to go, but the launch was the most feared part as that seems to be the most risky.
Happy exoplanet/black hole/big bang hunting NASA
Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone.
A few interesting facts about this incredible project.
The fuel along weighs in at over 350 tons, takes almost 2 hours to fuel up.
Later in the journey the thrusters have to fire at just the right moment or the rocket will keep going forever out into deep space where we will never see or hear of it again.
The mirrors have been designed to be warped on Earth meaning any images from them from Earth would be completely blurry. When they get into the correct position, the minus 280 degrees environment will warp them into perfect mirros that will provide sharp images.
As of yet, there is no way to repair or correct any part of the telescope unless it can be done in software. No corrective camera would be possible this time.
The solar shields are as big as a football field, paper thin, and have to unfold perfectly or else the mirrors will be too warm to warp into the correct shape.
The mirrors were tested in Texas some time ago, and during that test there was a hurricane. They had to put out pans to catch the water leaking though the ceiling, and had to sleep there at the test site. The mirrors were put into a vacuum chamber and luckily that did not get affected by the weather.
It's been an incredible 20 year journey, some people working on it for 30 years, and it's not over yet. It's going to take 6 months before the entire unfolding and testing is completed so we wont get any images for at least that time.
So still a long way to go, but the launch was the most feared part as that seems to be the most risky.
Happy exoplanet/black hole/big bang hunting NASA
Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone.