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After 20 Years, NASA completes the James Webb telescope. The most powerful ever!

H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
http://www.popsci.com/james-webb-space-telescope-is-now-ready-for-final-tests-before-launch

jwst.jpg


This has been a very long time coming and also incredibly exciting to finally have it finally completed. It will be launching in the next 2 years, hopefully sooner than later. This space telescope is the successor to the Hubble telescope and much more powerful and will allow us to see more of the universe in greater clarity than ever before.

Twenty years ago, scientists began assembling a next-generation telescope that would be the successor for the Hubble. Now, NASA engineers have announced that construction of the James Webb Telescope (JWST) is finally complete. The telescope, which is twice the size of Hubble with a 21-foot mirror, is ready for testing before its scheduled launch in October 2018.
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Inspired by the success of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts collaborated on the design and construction of the JWST. The resulting telescope is bigger and more powerful than the Hubble, giving it the ability to see the first galaxies born after the Big Bang. The observations it makes will not only help scientists understand the origins of the universe, but also search for signs of life on faraway planets.

By looking at infrared light given off by all objects in space, the unmanned telescope will pull back the curtains of the universe and see stars too distant even for the Hubble. Eighteen large hexagonal mirrors, made out of lightweight berylium and coated with gold will collect the infrared readings for the JWST. They’ll operate at close to absolute zero temperatures, from a point in space called the Lagrange Point 2, which is directly behind Earth from the sun's perspective.
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By the time the telescope is finally shipped to French Guiana for its launch on top of the European Ariane 5 rocket, the total cost is expected to reach $10 billion. So far, the telescope is on schedule and on budget, but each stage of the upcoming testing must go exactly according to plan. Unlike with Hubble, astronauts won’t be able to reach the JWST to fix a problem after it launches. The telescope will be stationed too far away for them to reach — about 930,000 miles from Earth.
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For this who want to know how the telescope works and what it can do:

James Webb Telescope Info Graphic from Space.com

james-webb-space-telescope-130110b-02.jpg


Edit: For those interested in how the James Webb telescope will "transform" and unfold into its final shape I found this image:

image021.jpg
Click to expand...
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
One really anticipated use I have for the James Webb telescope is focusing it on the star with the unexplained dimming that some have suspected of being an alien civilizations building a mega structure.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
I must confess, that second picture on the info graphic makes it look like a Star Destroyer.

But yeah, will be great to see this thing get off the ground.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
JonnyDBrit said:
I must confess, that second picture on the info graphic makes it look like a Star Destroyer.

But yeah, will be great to see this thing get off the ground.
Click to expand...

Its Hillary's secret super weapon that she will use to threaten the Earth and force all the nations of the world to swear fealty to God Queen Killary or else she will wipe your nation off the face of the Earth with her space laser.
 
W

Woorloog

Banned
Since it is "open" telescope, won't it be terribly susceptible to micrometeor damage??

Also... Ariane 5? Aren't those comparatively unlucky rockets? Wouldn't want this thing to blow up.
EDIT Nope, Ariane 5 is relatively good, it seems. Must have been thinking of some other rocket.
 
D

danthefan

Member
Mikey Jr. said:
The hell is this stable l2 point and how is it rotating around it?
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It's a point in space where (massively simplified) the gravity of the sun and earth cancel each other out, if you site something at such a point it can just float there happily without having to orbit the earth. I didn't actually realise you could orbit a Lagrangian point but there you are.
 
M

Megalosaro

Banned
danthefan said:
It's a point in space where (massively simplified) the gravity of the sun and earth cancel each other out, if you site something at such a point it can just float there happily without having to orbit the earth. I didn't actually realise you could orbit a Lagrangian point but there you are.
Click to expand...

I think it is because some Lagrange an points are less stable than others.
 
G

gutshot

Member
Megalosaro said:
Holy shit. Theyre sending it to the Sun's L2 point, not the Earth's? Whoa.

Why not L5 though?
Click to expand...

It is the Earth's L2 point. The Earth-Sun L2 point.

The Earth also has Lagrangian points with the Moon. But those aren't out far enough or stable enough to make for good observation points.
 
D

danthefan

Member
I assume it folds up or somesuch for launch?

Also, is it me or does it look like a destroyer from Star Wars from the underside picture?
 
F

Fushin

Member
sphagnum said:
Now watch as the rocket taking it into orbit accidentally blows up or something.
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Nothing to worry about there, the Ariane 5 has only had two failures, the last being over 14 years ago (16 at time of launch). Proven rocket systems are very reliable, and you know NASA is going to going to be even more careful with this launch. NASA even has their own new rocket sending an Orion capsule around the Moon around the same timeframe.
 
P

Prez

Member
If something does go wrong, will they send astronauts to fix it anyway? They say it's too far away but they wouldn't just let this $10 billion telescope sit there broken, would they?
 
K

Kerned

Banned
This is great. I remember when this project was first conceived shortly after I finished high school. I always assumed it would get defunded and cancelled along the way and never be completed. Glad to have been wrong.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
Good that OP ignores the fact that the telescope is an international collaboration.

But I guess that are just mere details.
 
R

RumblingRosco

Member
Prez said:
If something does go wrong, will they send astronauts to fix it anyway? They say it's too far away but they wouldn't just let this $10 billion telescope sit there broken, would they?
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The telescope will be roughly 2-4x farther away from earth than the moon. Don't think we'll be sending some one out there to repair it.
 
D

danthefan

Member
Prez said:
If something does go wrong, will they send astronauts to fix it anyway? They say it's too far away but they wouldn't just let this $10 billion telescope sit there broken, would they?
Click to expand...

That's a really interesting question. I'd love to know the answer, I'm sure NASA have considered it.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
PdotMichael said:
Good that OP ignores the fact that the telescope is an international collaboration.

But I guess that are just mere details.
Click to expand...

Inspired by the success of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA and its European and Canadian counterparts collaborated on the design and construction of the JWST.
Click to expand...

By the time the telescope is finally shipped to French Guiana for its launch on top of the European Ariane 5 rocket, the total cost is expected to reach $10 billion.
Click to expand...

Both quotes straight from the OP. Sure its not in the title, but the collaboration is still noted in the post proper.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
PdotMichael said:
Good that OP ignores the fact that the telescope is an international collaboration.

But I guess that are just mere details.
Click to expand...

That wording is in the title of the article I linked I mentioned the international parts in the OP.
 
S

spekkeh

Banned
What the hell is it doing all the way out there. We can't make cool sci-fi films like Gravity where something goes wrong on the James Webb if the earth will just be a pinpoint.
 
S

sphinx

the piano man
the fact that no one can reach it once it's there makes me very anxious...

without astronauts going up to fix hubble when they realized the mirror was screwed, nothing of this would be taking place.

on the other hand, if it works, I really can't possibly imagine my hype once the launch and reveal of images/info draw near....really...

I'll jump in my room like an 8-year-old awaiting christmas.

and when I see pics I'll probably cry and say a thousands times "how is this possible... man, but how? how is it possible this was out there.... no seriously, I can't believe it, how did we ever manage to get this far.. I can't believe it."

hell, my eyes got wet typing this.
 
A

Abstruse Moose

Member
Forgive my engineering ignorance, but why has it taken so long to build this thing? Seems relativity simple compared to something like the LHC. Funding issue?

Also, is it really going to take 2 years of testing before it can be launched? Seems kind of excessive for (again forgive my ignorance) a relatively simple machine.
 
F

fanboi

Banned
Fushin said:
I was saying the same thing as the person you quoted, what point are you trying to prove? There's no way they'd be able to mount a mission quick enough to go that far.
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The two quotes contradict each other, hence my reply since it is a neogaf thing.

Edit: oh I see how you typed now, interpreted it the other way due to the question from the poster you quoted.
 
L

LeBart

Member
Fushin said:
Nothing to worry about there, the Ariane 5 has only had two failures, the last being over 14 years ago (16 at time of launch). Proven rocket systems are very reliable, and you know NASA is going to going to be even more careful with this launch. NASA even has their own new rocket sending an Orion capsule around the Moon around the same timeframe.
Click to expand...
I'm more worried about something going wrong with the deployment once in orbit. This thing unfolds like a fucking transformer.
 
F

Fushin

Member
fanboi said:
The two quotes contradict each other, hence my reply since it is a neogaf thing.
Click to expand...

We both are saying that there wouldn't be a mission to rescue it, go back and do a reread:

The poster I responded to said "but they wouldn't just let this $10 billion telescope sit there broken, would they?" to which I replied "they would." If you're having trouble comprehending that I can spell it out for you in more detail, which is that they would leave the telescope out there to die.
 
F

fanboi

Banned
Fushin said:
We both are saying that there wouldn't be a mission to rescue it, go back and do a reread:

The poster I responded to said "but they wouldn't just let this $10 billion telescope sit there broken, would they?" to which I replied "they would." If you're having trouble comprehending that I can spell it out for you in more detail, which is that they would leave the telescope out there to die.
Click to expand...

See my edit.

Oh and you don't need to become so aggressive cool down internet person.
 
S

somecrazymember

Banned
This is great news! Let's just hope it arrives in space sacely. The James Webb is gonna give us so much new information, it's gonna be awesome
 
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