Also see the Where is Webb? dashboard-
https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html
It's almost there, but there will still be about six months of cooling down and calibration before we see anything from it.
https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html
It's almost there, but there will still be about six months of cooling down and calibration before we see anything from it.
Each mirror segment was firmly supported to withstand the violent forces at launch. In the past few days, the two 3-segment wings swung into position and every mirror segment moved slightly so that now they can be aimed by their actuators. Each segment has actuators on the perimeter that will fine tune the pointing and one in the center that can deform it slightly to change focus. Each one will now need to be fine tuned. There are also many adjustments to be done in the secondary optics.
Inevitably, surprises will crop up as well and have to be dealt with. They do this quietly now for PR reasons. While the Hubble was being commissioned, some engineers talked freely about the things they were dealing with. At first it was very interesting to follow along. But once it was determined that the primary trouble was misconfiguration of the objective, all the chatter stopped. Since then all space missions tightly control their press. This is understandable but makes it a little less fun to follow along.
The good news is that most of the single use motors and actuators have done their thing and and are now retired. The ones that remain (like the mirror pointers) are based on designs that have worked many years on many spacecrafts. It is great to see the project get to this stage. I can’t wait to read about what we find out there.
I fully expect NASA to release a 'first light' image in the near future and if they do not I'll be sorely disappointed.
By default the page loads and displays distances in miles, temperatures in Fahrenheit, ie English units (also known as Imperial or USCS system units). If you wish to have the page load and display in kilometers and temperatures in Celsius, ie metric system units use the urls below to select your preferred units.
It is fascinating to see a generation of people insist on the wrong thing simply because they don't understand the right/better thing.
Or because it is of foreign origin.[2] There have been dangerous incidents because of conversion failure.[3]
[1] https://www.statista.com/chart/18300/countries-using-the-met...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_opposition#Metrica...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication#Accidents_and_inci...
Reminds me of this old, favorite LOL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOtuX0jL85Y