James Webb space telescope set to launch on Christmas Eve.

[Gingerbread Demon]

That would guarantee equipment failure and therefore mission failure, if I understand how the Telescope was designed, built and intended to be "installed" at L2.

That was kind of how I thought that would go. Pointing it at Earth would result in some kind of system error as it wasn't designed to work that way, in the same way Hubble can't take nice close photos of the Moon

 

[Non Sync]

They've got back the first image from the Webb telescope:

 

[publiusr]

Now there are red tags with that on them..attached to pins…but I saw a close-out photo with rubber bungee cords with metal hooks too. About 15 years ago in Av Week IIRC.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Lens cap is still on, Error, error

 

[DEWLine]

Looking at TEST Engineering (Research Center) YouTube livestream, and according to that - as I type this post - JWST is about 27.4% of the way to L2 position...?

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[Owain Taggart]

With this website, you can see how far along it is in realtime:

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

 

[DEWLine]

So it'll be passing beyond the Moon's orbital range overnight (in my time zone)...

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

With this website, you can see how far along it is in realtime:

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

That graphic can be a bit confusing at first as the scale on the X axis is time in days rather than distance. I see initial sunshield deployment is imminent but it won't be fully deployed for another five days.

 

[DEWLine]

32 % of the way there...

 

[Owain Taggart]

That graphic can be a bit confusing at first as the scale on the X axis is time in days rather than distance. I see initial sunshield deployment is imminent but it won't be fully deployed for another five days.

Yeah, we were initially confused at first before realizing it was displayed as days, and then everything makes sense, given they know exactly when and where it will be located at any given time, plus it does make it easier to explain the distance in laymen terms.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Still could be a bit confusing as it makes it look as if the L2 halo orbit is about ten times farther than the Moon from Earth rather than four times. Personally, I'd prefer a non-linear time axis showing the deceleration as the JWST approaches the vicinity of L2.

ETA: Taken me all this time to notice that there are a couple of buttons to select either time or distance on the X-axis. D'oh!

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

There's a pile of youtube out already "Humanity's last view of the James Webb Telescope"

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=humanity's+last+view+of+the+james+webb brings up lots of videos

 

[XCV330]

It's odd to me to find people find it significant to have a last view of a satellite. It's not really meant to be seen. It's job is to see. Maybe people remember Hubble and those shuttle visits. Better to have something that doesn't need visits.

 

[Santaman]

Hmm, say, now where's that Tesla Roadster somewhere? I mean it totally would be hilarious if the telescope gets into a traffic accident... with a car..

 

[XCV330]

Hmm, say, now where's that Tesla Roadster somewhere? I mean it totally would be hilarious if the telescope gets into a traffic accident... with a car..

https://www.whereisroadster.com/charts/
at the moment it should be beyond the orbit of Mars. next closest approach to earth would be in October next year, but it won't be very close. Estimates. No one can track it, now.

 

[Santaman]

Cool, thank you for that site.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Still could be a bit confusing as it makes it look as if the L2 halo orbit is about ten times farther than the Moon from Earth rather than four times. Personally, I'd prefer a non-linear time axis showing the deceleration as the JWST approaches the vicinity of L2.

Dunno, seems pretty plain to me. I mean, 30 days to L2 is a much more graspable concept compared to its distance. When it comes to distances in space, it's a concept that's difficult to grasp and explain.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Not that it matters really unless you're in charge of guiding the thing.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Hey swing it towards that red car and get pictures....... I am sure there's some traffic violations going on up there

Hey being so far out there repairs will be almost impossible won't it?

I found my location. I put Gingerbread Demon into Google maps

https://www.google.com/maps/search/gingerbread+demon/@-37.8256717,144.9974053,17z

Got burnt butter instead

 

[FPAlpha]

Why is this so interesting and why do i feel the need to cheer on the JWST?