NASA - James Webb Space Telescope - Discussion Thread 2

[Chris Bergin]

Thread 1:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=10453.0

[libra]

First and foremost - my apologies for the wrong choice of words that got the previous thread locked. It is a very sensitive affair. I won't take part in any further discussions of it.

[edzieba]

While the final mission analysis review for Ariane has completed, presumably that is still pending on the revised fairing performing as expected later this month?

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/nasawebb/status/1418262128344150017

This new image fresh from the @northropgrumman cleanroom shows #NASAWebb nearly fully packed up into the same formation it will have for launch. Few tests remain before the team transitions into shipment operations.
 
More on Webb’s recent progress: go.nasa.gov/3BvxLQM

[edzieba]

https://twitter.com/nasawebb/status/1418262128344150017

This new image fresh from the @northropgrumman cleanroom shows #NASAWebb nearly fully packed up into the same formation it will have for launch. Few tests remain before the team transitions into shipment operations.
 
More on Webb’s recent progress: go.nasa.gov/3BvxLQM

That's odd: just behind the uppermost bronze crossmember (below the cherrypicker basket) a set of components on the underside of the sunshield have been deliberately blurred (not just out of focus, all the shot-noise bas been smoothed out). That areas has been previous picuted unobscured (e.g. here or here), so not sure why NG would go to the trouble now.

[hoku]

<snip>
That's odd: just behind the uppermost bronze crossmember (below the cherrypicker basket) a set of components on the underside of the sunshield have been deliberately blurred (not just out of focus, all the shot-noise bas been smoothed out). That areas has been previous picuted unobscured (e.g. here or here), so not sure why NG would go to the trouble now.

Sharp eye spotting the blurred region in the image!

Most likely explanation is that there are some (potentially) ITAR related components. NASA also has a "notech" JWST photo, which seems to be cropped to avoid showing the region with the components:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/james-webb-space-telescope-testing-progress-continues

[catdlr]

<snip>
That's odd: just behind the uppermost bronze crossmember (below the cherrypicker basket) a set of components on the underside of the sunshield have been deliberately blurred (not just out of focus, all the shot-noise bas been smoothed out). That areas has been previous picuted unobscured (e.g. here or here), so not sure why NG would go to the trouble now.

Sharp eye spotting the blurred region in the image!

Most likely explanation is that there are some (potentially) ITAR related components. NASA also has a "notech" JWST photo, which seems to be cropped to avoid showing the region with the components:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/james-webb-space-telescope-testing-progress-continues

“Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear"  ;-)

[mmonty]

<snip>
That's odd: just behind the uppermost bronze crossmember (below the cherrypicker basket) a set of components on the underside of the sunshield have been deliberately blurred (not just out of focus, all the shot-noise bas been smoothed out). That areas has been previous picuted unobscured (e.g. here or here), so not sure why NG would go to the trouble now.

Sharp eye spotting the blurred region in the image!

Most likely explanation is that there are some (potentially) ITAR related components. NASA also has a "notech" JWST photo, which seems to be cropped to avoid showing the region with the components:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/james-webb-space-telescope-testing-progress-continues

When JWST was at Goddard, whenever the OTE was oriented with the back side (the side with all the mechanical linkages to the mirrors and their supports) facing the windows of the viewing gallery, they would close the window shades so on-lookers could not look in due to the proprietary nature of those linkages. Or so I was told.

[Scintillant]

From Dr. Zurbuchen's official blog: Launching the World’s Biggest Space Telescope

For most missions, launch contributes the majority of mission risk – if the spacecraft is in space, most risk is behind us. There are few types of missions that are very much different with most risk coming *after* launch.
...

The second such mission this year is Webb. Like a transformer in the movies, about 50 deployments need to occur after launch to set up the huge system. With nearly 350 so-called single point failures – individual steps that have to work for the mission to be a success – this deployment after launch will keep us on edge for 3 weeks or so. For comparison, this exceeds single point failures for landing on Mars by a factor of 3, and that landing lasted only 7 minutes.

Those who are not worried or even terrified about this are not understanding what we are trying to do.

[zubenelgenubi]

So poor it got its own thread:
Arianespace VA254 30 July 2021 launch webcast - discussion
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=54416.0

I split/merged some posts to the above-mentioned thread.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1430909077257801731

The European Space Agency says the James Webb Space Telescope has successfully completed its final tests and is being prepared for shipment to the launch site in French Guiana. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_completes_testing_and_prepares_for_trip_to_Europe_s_Spaceport

[Targeteer]

hthttps://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-s-james-webb-space-telescope-has-completed-testing/

Aug 26, 2021
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Has Completed Testing
After successful completion of its final tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is being prepped for shipment to its launch site.

Engineering teams have completed Webb’s long-spanning comprehensive testing regimen at Northrop Grumman’s facilities. Webb’s many tests and checkpoints were designed to ensure that the world’s most complex space science observatory will operate as designed once in space.

Now that observatory testing has concluded, shipment operations have begun. This includes all the necessary steps to prepare Webb for a safe journey through the Panama Canal to its launch location in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Since no more large-scale testing is required, Webb’s clean room technicians have shifted their focus from demonstrating it can survive the harsh conditions of launch and work in orbit, to making sure it will safely arrive at the launch pad. Webb’s contamination control technicians, transport engineers, and logistics task forces are all expertly prepared to handle the unique task of getting Webb to the launch site. Shipping preparations will be completed in September.

Webb Will Soon Be on its Way 

“NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has reached a major turning point on its path toward launch with the completion of final observatory integration and testing,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb's program director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We have a tremendously dedicated workforce who brought us to the finish line, and we are very excited to see that Webb is ready for launch and will soon be on that science journey.”

With integration and testing formally concluded for the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next giant leap into the cosmic unknown will soon be underway.
With integration and testing formally concluded for the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s next giant leap into the cosmic unknown will soon be underway.
Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn
While shipment operations are underway, teams located in Webb’s Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore will continue to check and recheck the complex communications network it will use in space. Recently this network fully demonstrated that it is capable of seamlessly sending commands to the spacecraft. Live launch rehearsals are underway within the MOC with the explicit purpose of preparing for launch day and beyond. There is much to be done before launch, but with integration and testing formally concluded, NASA’s next giant leap into the cosmic unknown will soon be underway.

Once Webb arrives in French Guiana, launch processing teams will configure the observatory for flight. This involves post-shipment checkouts to ensure the observatory hasn’t been damaged during transport, carefully loading the spacecraft’s propellant tanks with hydrazine fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer it will need to power its rocket thrusters to maintain its orbit, and detaching ‘remove before flight’ red-tag items like protective covers that keep important components safe during assembly, testing, and transport. Then engineering teams will mate the observatory to its launch vehicle, an Ariane 5 rocket provided by ESA (European Space Agency), before it rolls out to the launch pad. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

The James Webb Space Telescope is an amazing feat of human ingenuity, made more impressive by the obstacles Webb personnel overcame to deliver this amazing space science observatory. Earthquakes, a devastating hurricane, snowstorms, blizzards, wildfires, and a global pandemic are only some of what the people behind Webb endured to ensure success. Webb’s story is one of perseverance – a mission with contributions from thousands of scientists, engineers, and other professionals from more than 14 countries and 29 states, in nine different time zones.

“To me, launching Webb will be a significant life event – I’ll be elated of course when this is successful, but it will also be a time of deep personal introspection. Twenty years of my life will all come down to that moment,” said Mark Voyton, Webb observatory integration and test manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’ve come a long way and worked through so much together to prepare our observatory for flight. The telescope’s journey is only just beginning, but for those of us on the ground who built it, our time will soon come to an end, and we will have our opportunity to rest, knowing we put everything on the line to make sure our observatory works. The bonds we formed with each other along the way will last far into the future.”

Opening NASA’s New Eye on the Cosmos

After launch, Webb will undergo an action-packed six-month commissioning period. Moments after completing a 26-minute ride aboard the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, the spacecraft will separate from the rocket and its solar array will deploy automatically. After that, all subsequent deployments over the next few weeks will be initiated from ground control located at STScI.


Engineering teams have completed the James Webb Space Telescope’s long-spanning comprehensive testing regimen at Northrop Grumman’s facilities. Webb’s many tests and checkpoints were designed to ensure that the world’s most complex space science observatory will operate as designed once in space. Now that observatory testing has concluded, shipment operations have begun. This includes all the necessary steps to prepare Webb for a safe journey through the Panama Canal to its launch location in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Producer, Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Video Editor, Michael P. Menzel (AIMM): Videographer, Sophia Roberts (AIMM): Videographer
Webb will take one month to fly to its intended orbital location in space nearly one million miles away from Earth, slowly unfolding as it goes. Sunshield deployments will begin a few days after launch, and each step can be controlled expertly from the ground, giving Webb’s launch full control to circumnavigate any unforeseen issues with deployment.

Once the sunshield starts to deploy, the telescope and instruments will enter shade and start to cool over time. Over the ensuing weeks, the mission team will closely monitor the observatory’s cooldown, managing it with heaters to control stresses on instruments and structures. In the meantime, the secondary mirror tripod will unfold, the primary mirror will unfold, Webb’s instruments will slowly power up, and thruster firings will insert the observatory into a prescribed orbit.

Once the observatory has cooled down and stabilized at its frigid operating temperature, several months of alignments to its optics and calibrations of its scientific instruments will occur. Scientific operations are expected to commence approximately six months after launch.

‘Flagship’ missions like Webb are generational projects. Webb was built on both the legacy and the lessons of missions before it, such as the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, and it will in turn provide the foundation upon which future large astronomical space observatories may one day be developed.

“After completing the final steps of the James Webb Space Telescope’s testing regimen, I can’t help but see the reflections of the thousands of individuals who have dedicated so much of their lives to Webb, every time I look at that beautiful gold mirror,” said Bill Ochs, Webb project manager for NASA Goddard.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the world's premier space science observatory when it launches in 2021. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

By Thaddeus Cesari
​NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

[jacqmans]

Webb completes testing
26/08/2021

Fully assembled and fully tested, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has completed its primary testing regimen and is soon preparing for shipment to its launch site at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. On this photo, Webb is folded as it will be for launch.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1435590609532764161

JWST has an official launch date: December 18, 2021. Happy Holidays!

[Targeteer]

September 08, 2021
RELEASE 21-113
NASA Readies James Webb Space Telescope for December Launch
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope being prepped for shipment to its launch site.
After successful completion of its final tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is seen here being prepared for shipment to its launch site.
Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn

NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit Dec. 18, 2021, to serve as the premier deep space observatory for the next decade.

The agency set the new target launch date in coordination with Arianespace after Webb recently and successfully completed its rigorous testing regimen – a major turning point for the mission. The new date also follows Arianespace successfully launching an Ariane 5 rocket in late July and scheduling a launch that will precede Webb. The July launch was the first for an Ariane 5 since August 2020.

Webb, an international program led by NASA with its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, will launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on the northeastern coast of South America. ESA is providing the Ariane 5.

The highly complex space telescope is currently resting in its final stow configuration at Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Redondo Beach, California.

“Webb is an exemplary mission that signifies the epitome of perseverance,” said Gregory L. Robinson, Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “I am inspired by our dedicated team and our global partnerships that have made this incredible endeavor possible. Together, we’ve overcome technical obstacles along the way as well as challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. I also am grateful for the steadfast support of Congress. Now that we have an observatory and a rocket ready for launch, I am looking forward to the big day and the amazing science to come.”

The Webb team is preparing for shipment operations, during which the observatory will undergo final closeout procedures and packing for its journey to the launch site. The major elements of the Ariane 5 rocket that will carry Webb into space have safely arrived in Kourou, French Guiana, from Europe.

The Webb telescope’s revolutionary technology will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within our 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 humankind understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.

For further information about the Webb mission, visit:

www.webb.nasa.gov

For information about the construction and engineering of the Webb telescope, visit:

www.nasa.gov/webb

[hoku]

At some time in the next ~4(?) weeks, JWST inside Super STTARS ("Space Telescope Transporter for Air, Road and Sea") should be passing through the Panama Channel locks. For eager (eagle-eyed) and trained (Texas) tank and crane watchers, here is the link to the locks' webcams
https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/index.html

For more info on STTARS, see https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/follow-the-sttars-to-find-nasas-webb-telescope

[TrevorMonty]

Thought they would've flown it to Guiana.
Lets hope the ship doesn't run into any hurricanes.

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

[Blackstar]

Thought they would've flown it to Guiana.
Lets hope the ship doesn't run into any hurricanes.

I think it's too big to fit in a plane now.

I'm trying to remember, and maybe somebody has better information, but there's an issue with the road from the airport to the launch site. I think that the road from the port to the launch site is smoother. So even if they could have flown it, they might have chosen sea transport anyway. But I could be in error about this and somebody may have better info.

[Jim]

Thought they would've flown it to Guiana.
Lets hope the ship doesn't run into any hurricanes.

I think it's too big to fit in a plane now.

I'm trying to remember, and maybe somebody has better information, but there's an issue with the road from the airport to the launch site. I think that the road from the port to the launch site is smoother. So even if they could have flown it, they might have chosen sea transport anyway. But I could be in error about this and somebody may have better info.

They increased the size of the container so that it no longer fits in the C-5.

Port is 8 km to processing facility vs 70 from airport

[catdlr]

Thought they would've flown it to Guiana.
Lets hope the ship doesn't run into any hurricanes.

I think it's too big to fit in a plane now.

I'm trying to remember, and maybe somebody has better information, but there's an issue with the road from the airport to the launch site. I think that the road from the port to the launch site is smoother. So even if they could have flown it, they might have chosen sea transport anyway. But I could be in error about this and somebody may have better info.

They increased the size of the container so that it no longer fits in the C-5.

Port is 8 km to processing facility vs 70 from airport

One question, I've only seen pictures of the Webb Telescope in an upright position. Will it be OK to transport it on its side as shown by the canister in the photo above?