Countdown to rewriting the textbooks again - JWST launch imminent

I don’t think most people have any clue how extremely difficult that accomplishment is. Bravo to the entire team.

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One of the important points was fuel. The initial rocket trajectory was so proficient that the fuel allotment for the telescope went from 5 to more than 10 years and possibly well beyond. Incredible achievement!

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More interesting steps in the deployment.

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All of the mirror segments are now out of the “shipping” position and ready for final alignment. Amazing.

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JWST has arrived at L2!!! Nasa.gov has a 3pm Presser for info on the insertion burn and confirmation it’s in the Halo. What a journey and what an future for Astronomy. Looking forward to what we’ll see. Such good stuff for a kid who grew up with Apollo.

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JWST is incredible in all respects.

I will never get accustomed to the distances and speeds in space. JWST is almost a million miles away. It took just a short wile to get there. And it will peer 13 billion years into the past.

Mind boggled

I am eager to see pictures.

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I think they said it would take 3 to 4 months to final align the mirror segments and they aren’t going to release any images until they are perfect. It should be the view of a lifetime.
I have been following the space program since about 1965 and this is a wonderful culmination.

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I was unaware of the final issue of alignment.

I will work on being patient.

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With a segmented active mirror, that is a fine tuning step for best image quality. Doubt there is a really definitive timeline for that, depends on how the observatory behaves. The observatory thus far has exceeded all expectations, so I’m optimistic they’ll have the wavefront error where they want it sooner than they anticipated. The anticipation is similar to that I felt waiting for 1st light images from the Advanced Camera for Surveys 3rd gen axial instrument in HST a team of hundreds worked on, myself included. Very excited and I hope with all the well deserved hoopla that will be surrounding JWST first light the monumental role HST has played in rewriting the textbooks will never be forgotten. Those of us with skin in HST will both celebrate and mourn the day that great endeavor comes to a close. What we can celebrate now is the fact that for some period of time two of the greatest spaceborne observatories ever conceived will be doing science in tandem. Wow. Just, wow!

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I know that they are progressing at a much better pace than anticipated and that is great news. I heard the 3 to 4 month aiming schedule during one of the Q&A sessions and it is also mentioned in the deployment page.

What a huge boost to the quest to find out who we are and maybe where we came from.

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I can only imagine the excitement and pride from being part of any of these projects.

This is the best kind of science, fundamental inquiry.

This really is a phenomenal and valuable accomplishment. Looking forward to what we can see and what we can learn…

That said, this deserves some attention over here as well as in the Humor thread:

First image from the James Webb telescope has just been released.

Hat tip: @amsco15

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I see that the L2 burn was successful. Another feather in their cap!
@owlsalum Thanks for your work on the HST and what that program added to the WEBB.
Bot these programs are fascinating on so many levels.

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Here’s a good Vid about how the JWST can orbit the L2 point. How James Webb Orbits "Nothing" - YouTube

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That is some crazy cool orbital dynamics🤠

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It’s amazing orbiting around no mass because the two other masses in the neighborhood create a gravitational gradient at certain points. Not all Lagrange points are stable, btw. Three of the five are actually unstable saddle points. The physics of the neighborhood in the vicinity of the spheres of influence of the Earth and Moon is fascinating. Stay tuned to hear a lot more about the Earth-Moon neighborhood as the US and other spacefaring nations gear up to return to the Moon permanently. There is a ton of research in progress (I just attended a PNT conference where navigation concepts are being studied for the entire Lunar gateway). Traffic in the neighborhood is going to get pretty congested over the next 10-20 years. Not since Apollo have we been in a period of such intense interest in space unmanned and manned.

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Jupiter, the Abyss, as viewed by Juno.

A reminder that we need to continue to fund science and NASA. I’m all for funding the Arts as well.

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It looks like the instruments are cooling down nicely

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First Photons received! Another huge milestone

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/02/11/photons-received-webb-sees-its-first-star-18-times/

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Very neat