James Webb telescope lifted atop its launch rocket

[Hans Tucker]

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59632757

[multiweb]

Woohoo! Go Webb! :party:

[Saturnine]

This is certainly good news, only 1 week to go to launch.

[Hans Tucker]

Well we are just 2 days out

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html

[strongmanmike]

What better date than Christmas Day!...double time and a half $ for all the team members :lol:

[Hans Tucker]

The highly anticipated launch of NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope has been delayed yet again.

The massive telescope is now set to take off on Christmas Day, December 25, with a launch window between 7:20AM ET and 7:52AM ET - the previous date was December 24.

Live coverage will be shown on NASA's TV channel and website beginning Saturday at 6AM ET.

[AdamJL]

There are 8 launch dates until mid-Jan I think.
What's the reason for the latest delay?

[Hans Tucker]

High winds at Europe’s Spaceport on French Guiana is to blame for the current delay but there is also a reported intermittent communication problem.

[astronobob]

COUNT-DOWN,,

1 Day,, 1hr and 40'ish minutes from the time of this posting,,,

https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/countdown.html?fbclid=IwAR2TYoq-HNZSrxlTjNhrZvOYupOmk5nfhJzfnRLty4S wEka2rNh0Y74JCII
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Live Stream, link ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVKzZ89N2Ks

[Hemi]

Thanks for the link, very exciting….finally!

[Zuts]

Thunderbirds are go go go

Wow, over 700 different things have to unfold. I thought the mars crane was amazing, this is insane.

Wishing all the best!


https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=james+web+unfolding+video&docid=608025643979337846&mid=54FE5EEE87F8DF268DFD54FE5EEE87F 8DF268DFD&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

go to 4:15 for the unfolding sequence

[astronobob]

:bowdown:

[AdamJL]

Amazing, GO WEBB!!!!

[astronobob]

T + 8 mins,,, Flight Nominal , , , :prey:

[AdamJL]

main stage separation, this is incredible

[alpal]

Great liftoff - I saw it on ABC 24.


The word nominal has no meaning I can find in terms of rockets:


https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/nominal


What do they mean?

[astronobob]

Awesome Launch - perfection from Ariane 5 :thumbsup:

[lazjen]

Separated and on its way. Awesome work so far.

[astronobob]

Take it up with NASA,,,
Freedom of speach :rolleyes:

[alpal]

It has no meaning in English for rockets yet they said it

about 10 times on the TV broadcast.

[Saturnine]

Wahoo, Perfect liftoff and ride into orbit and off to its lagrange point. Has been a long wait and now another wait for all its systems to be operational.

[astronobob]

Agree, using the best available Rocket which has produced yet another flawless Launch :thumbsup:

Now its all left to James-Webb manufacturers,,, :eyepop:---:whistle:---:eek:-------:scared3:

[astroron]

It means Normal.
No anomalies.
It has been used for launches for a couple
of decades or more.
The people who it effects know what it means
Cheers:thumbsup:

[alpal]

Really - I have been following the space program since the Apollo landings on the Moon
and I've never heard it used before.

[AdamJL]

nominal just means normal.
And it's used in science a lot.
A lot!

[sunslayr]

Anyone else spot the JWST in W.A skies tonight? Blew me away when I spotted it while I was looking at Leonard. Should have posted here first but was too mesmerised :)

[Zuts]

whatever, step one is successful, its in orbit and on its own, go, go, go

[Zuts]

if you ever view a space x launch, maybe 20 or 30 per year (soon to be a few hundred per year), you hear it a lot

[alpal]

I thought I had watched plenty of those launches yet
I don't remember ever hearing the word nominal.
Maybe I have Alzheimer's?


From a google search:


The relevant definition of “nominal” is, “as named.” Nominal, in this technical context, does not mean “normal.” It means as planned, as named, or as written (in the mission plan). Often, it means “within acceptable or expected boundaries.”

[multiweb]

Such a relief it was a good launch and it's on its way. Ariane is a reliable launcher and the site location closer to the equator gives that little extra boost for really heavy payload. Still you never know until it goes up without any issues. Now to the long trip and unfolding phase.:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Ya must have been asleep or getting a beer or two or three.;)
Happy Christmas.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[astroron]

You answered your own question.:D
Cheers:thumbsup:

[wavelandscott]

I borrowed this from Heidi B. Hammel’s Facebook post…

I had to shrink it to fit but I hope you get the idea

[Camelopardalis]

Another flawless launch from arianespace :thumbsup:

Shame it was cloudy :lol:

[astronobob]

Awsome Info, Thnx for posting, I wonder if NASA will have live updates on each action staged on the days performed ?
Could be good updates to this thread and keep it all together for the record :question:

The JWST has been Born,, to grow into a fully fledge Telescope to help explain the Birth of the Cosmos

Time Line of events to happen - Counting Live distances etc : https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

:atom: :earth:

[Hans Tucker]

Sunshield Successfully Deploys on JWT :thumbsup:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/sunshield-successfully-deploys-on-nasa-s-next-flagship-telescope

[Hans Tucker]

James Webb Telescope successfully deployed it secondary mirror support structure. Another milestone achieved :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Hans Tucker]

Final Stage Completed ... The Team fully deployed JWT's 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror,

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-telescope-reaches-major-milestone-as-mirror-unfolds

[astronobob]

A couple of Mirror segments having allignment problems :shrug:

Scott Manley,, Video link has been copied at the time of mirror segment issue,,

https://youtu.be/DaCdVJ7ghk8?t=742

[Hans Tucker]

Wow .. they launched with known non 100% functioning hardware. Given this will go where even Scotty can't carry out a repair there is a lot of faith on their suppose fix for the problem.

[astronobob]

Yeah eh,, Scott mentions that a Sensor had failed, not sure if only one or more, considering two mirrors having a problem, , though also need to know where these sensors are and what they actually do apart from the obvious.

I'd think they be behind each mirror segment measuring each mirrors position, distance etc,,, Apart from that, its also mentioned that the motors that move the mirrors are all working which is a good thing for sure,, so maybe the plan of arranging all the other mirrors into locaton 1st and then try moving the two concerning segments manually or more like overiding the sensor mechanisms and attempt to allign these two by trail and error ?
Just a thought and my Bob's worth ?

[multiweb]

Seems ok.

[multiweb]

Cool 3D visualisation of Lagrange points.
https://youtu.be/7PHvDj4TDfM
https://youtu.be/7PHvDj4TDfM

[Hans Tucker]

A3 & A6 still have to null to be ok.

[Kevin_Hall]

Have anybody heard of LUVOIR misson? I've found a video about this mission (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH_w5StGoEY&t=2s), interesting to watch. No sooner had they launched JWST than they started to make another huge telescope :lol:
Though as far as I know it's now only a concept, but I'm eager to see what it could show us

[AdamJL]

LUVOIR looks fascinating

I like the idea of distributed telescopes though. Just like how Webb and LUVOIR are made up of multiple mirrors, and how the Square Kilometre Array is distributed over multiple countries, it'd be great to have a telescope system comprised of swarms of cameras that fly out to some huge distance. Multiple AU away. Spread out over the solar system.

I remember reading about such a system in a science fiction book by Alastair Reynolds where they were able to image exoplanets and see terrain with it.

lots of cheaper satellites, lower cost?

[astronobob]

Some screen shots,, All mirrors out to required positions, obvoisely micro adjustments needed when initial imaging tests are done at a later date :thumbsup:

Roughly 95% distance achieved considering timing,,
And a pic of the Filter Wheel for added interests :eyepop:

[MrB]

Thanks Bob, that filter wheel is very cool!
I found a (slightly) higher res version...
https://supernova.eso.org/static/archives/exhibitionimages/original/0806_filter_wheel.jpg

(Edit: Trying to find a description of what each filter is/does)

[AdamJL]

But are they using native drivers or ASCOM :p

[Steffen]

Is that some kind of focussing mask on the bottom right?

[astronobob]

A Bartinov Mask Steffen ;) hehe,,

Pic attached showing names of each Filter in the Wheel - from Link 4 below

Fun Fact : JWST has an effective f/number of f/16.67, and an effective focal length of 131.4 m.

Have found some other interesting info on this Miri Filterwheel -->

1st; is an 'Animation' of the Light travelling through the MIRI Imaging System, quite remarkable,,,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfG5wqsM3Bk

2nd; YouTube showing the Filterwheel moving through its Positions 'Testing'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu7TH8FWmoc

3rd; PDF (Particularly Slides 4-8 showing some of the Corongraphic filters used,,
http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/MIRI/MIRI_coronagraph.pdf

4th; MIRI Filters and Dispersers
https://jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-mid-infrared-instrument/miri-instrumentation/miri-filters-and-dispersers

[julianh72]

An image of JWST in orbit at L2 has been captured:
https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2022/01/25/james-webb-space-telescope-a-new-image-24-jan-2022/

All it takes is 300 second exposure on a 17" telescope, for anyone wanting to replicate the feat!

[AdamJL]

Great overview of the mirror assembly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cUp0AEwV2w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cUp0AEwV2w

[julianh72]

The "Where is Webb" website (or is that "webbsite"? :lol: ) has added a rather cool 3D viewer, based on the "NASA Eyes" platform:

https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

[Sunfish]

Nominal,

Baseline of expected values as in nominal value or nominal dimension.

Could be a little bit more or could be a little bit less than expected.

But generally within acceptable limits.

[Kevin_Hall]

JWST has reached its destination - L2.
Its first target will be a star in the constellation of Big Bear - HD84406.



https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-first-target-star

[astronobob]

In the past day or so, for the first time, photons from distant stars traveled through the entire Webb Telescope

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-alignment-begins

Alignment procedure: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/02/03/photons-incoming-webb-team-begins-aligning-the-telescope/

[strongmanmike]

Yeah..?..similar to using Catseye tools :face:...both iterative at least :P

Mike

[astronobob]

Iterative at the very least ;) and one can-not train-automate a catseye, :question:,,, :P

[julianh72]

I just came across this video which explains the design and operation of the mirror actuators. It's a very ingenious design, which uses a single stepper motor and drive train for both coarse and fine positioning, and a combination of gearing and flexure to obtain ~2 nanometre precision. (The presenter has built a working replica with a commercially-available stepper motor and a 3D printer.)

JWST Mirror Actuators are AMAZING!: https://youtu.be/5MxH1sfJLBQ

[alpal]

This picture is on CNN showing the result so far of the alignment.
You can see the single star appearing 18 times from the 18 segments
which is of course before full alignment.
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220211113911-02-james-webb-telescope-images-0211-exlarge-169.jpg

The full article also shows a mirror selfie:
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/11/world/james-webb-space-telescope-selfie-images-scn/index.html


cheers
Allan

[jakob]

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing.
:eyepop::thumbsup: