Space Exploration - James Webb Telescope / Mars Rovers, etc

[Faceplant]

BTW- unfurl is such a weird world.
Nothing ever "furls". It only un-furls.

There can be no furling, once an ufurl has taken place...or the universe would furl in on itself.

*shiver*

 

[Merlin]

Yeah thinking about the universe is kind of scary. Like the reality of it always being there, when the reality of that hits me it creeps me out. And if there is one there are probably others and what do they look like? I picture a boiling sea of them and what would be outside of that?

One of those things that the more you picture and think about it the scarier it gets. Like when my kid asked me if the galaxy was swirling down a drain when looking at images in a book. I was like "No, that's... Well let's go with another picture book."

 

[RamFan503]

I can't wait to see what comes from this. Apparently, it has taken twice as long as expected and went from $500,000,000 to over a billion. Glad they are going to get it done.

 

[norcalramfan]

I can't wait to see what comes from this. Apparently, it has taken twice as long as expected and went from $500,000,000 to over a billion. Glad they are going to get it done.

In the video Merlin posted, 10 billion dollars was mentioned.

 

[RamFan503]

In the video Merlin posted, 10 billion dollars was mentioned.

I'm just going by my wife's #s and I can just say #s are NOT her strong suit.

 

[Neil039]

The science and space discussions on ROD are just awesome. Thanks for posting.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Super cool, I still have a home built light bucket and a couple other telescopes. I haven't even dusted them off in years. Thanks for sharing, very interesting stuff

 

[CGI_Ram]

In the video Merlin posted, 10 billion dollars was mentioned.

It is crazy!

So much could go wrong. So much could STILL go wrong.

I watched this one last night, covers the engineering involved. Incredible what they are able to calculate and predict.

The engineering that has gone into the unfolding of the shield alone… it all goes to waste if they can’t do that right.

Then… the potential impact of space debris. So many things need to come into place for this to work.


View: https://youtu.be/aICaAEXDJQQ

 

[Rynie]

What's crazy is the fact it's supposed to be 100X more powerful than the Hubble, which has gotten some insane photos like the deep Hubble field pic of all those galaxies. Couple that with the fact it's WAY out in space, and yeah, there are going to be some INSANE photos. I also can't wait.

 

[Q729]

The engineering that has gone into the unfolding of the shield alone… it all goes to waste if they can’t do that right.


View: https://youtu.be/aICaAEXDJQQ

Ahem... That's unfurl.

 

[RamFan503]

Pictures are already coming in.

 

[Neil039]

That video (@CGI_Ram ) is so informative. The Heat Shield alone is insane, coupled with the design of the mirror.

 

[Q729]

NASA begins unfurling James Webb telescope's critical sunshade

Deploying the sunshade is crucial to its ability to look back toward the birth of the cosmos.

www.cbsnews.com

Unfurling...

 

[Neil039]

View attachment 50802

NASA begins unfurling James Webb telescope's critical sunshade

Deploying the sunshade is crucial to its ability to look back toward the birth of the cosmos.

www.cbsnews.com

Unfurling...

 

[Merlin]

Pictures are already coming in.













View attachment 50743

I KNEW IT!!!

 

[Merlin]

Pictures are already coming in.













View attachment 50743

"I'd hit that."
~ @Loyal

 

[Loyal]

That video (@CGI_Ram ) is so informative. The Heat Shield alone is insane, coupled with the design of the mirror.

“Hmmm…For what would highly polished mirror and tracking system be used? “ asked, Neil Laslo
”Shhh. Let me try this 5 gigawatt laser! “ ~ @Merlin the Real Genius

 

[LARams_1963]

My geek card needs to be revoked. I can't believe I missed the launch! Been following Webbs progress, and delays, for years. 6 months will be a loooooong wait till we receive the first data.

 

[CGI_Ram]

This is a nice status page;

Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb

During Webb's launch, deployment and commissioning, 'WhereIsWebb' tracked Webb's 'flight' to L2 orbit, its state and progress during its deployment and commissioning process, and finally the release of its first images. This process is now complete. During this process, the page constantly...

www.jwst.nasa.gov

Sounds like they are deploying shields currently;

Sunshield Layer Tensioning​

Nominal Event Time: Launch + 7 days
This operation is a multi-step two-day activity which completes the final membrane releases, as well as tensioning the five layers of the sunshield.

After initial sunshield deployments of the forward and aft UPS (which carry the fully folded sunshield), followed by the port and starboard mid-booms (which support and initially unfold all 5 layers of the sunshield together), each layer is successively tensioned.

 

[OregonRamsFan]

It has to go a million miles, then unfurl itself. Kinda like I wish Tom Brady would...

That makes sense. Then Brady would then become Major Tom.