Want to keep track of the James Webb Space Telescope's progress?

[walterpthefirst]

NASA has created this handy page for anyone interested in how the JWST is doing.

 

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

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

[Sexton Blake]

As I understand it, the telescope has over 100 operations to complete while it is travelling a million miles to its destination.

 

And that we can expect the first pictures in June 2022, and they will be AMAZING.

[Derek]

What I find amazing is that Webb will be able to analyze the atmospheres of exoplanets through spectroscopy. This has the potential to detect life...that is, biological life similar to ours. I hope I'm still alive when they find it

[walterpthefirst]

These links might be of interest to you, Derek.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosignature#Searching_outside_of_our_solar_system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MERMOZ

https://www.luvoirtelescope.org/

 

Thank you,

 

Walter.

[Derek]

Good stuff Walter...thank you

[pantheory]

Thanks Walter. Expect I will be using your link over the coming weeks and months.

[walterpthefirst]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2021/12/28/forward-pallet-structure-lowered-beginning-multiple-day-sunshield-deployment/

 

Here's a NASA blog that might prove worth watching.

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

[walterpthefirst]

Most Recently Completed:

WEBB IS FULLY DEPLOYED!

The largest, most complex telescope ever launched into space is fully deployed.

Nominal Event Time: Launch + 14 days (Saturday 1/8/22)

Status: Completed. WATCH: Post-Deployment Briefing | Re-Watch Live Broadcast

 

 

Webb will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

Webb will continue to travel to the second Lagrange point (L2) for another two weeks, at which point it will enter a large orbit around the L2 point. The following five months will be used to cool the telescope to operating temperature, fine-tune the mirror alignment, and calibrate the instruments.

 

 

 

 

Praise be to human ingenuity, reason, rationality and hard work and leave god out of the equation!

 

Walter.

[Astreja]

Yay!  (virtual high-five for everyone involved with the JWT project)

[walterpthefirst]

 

More good news re the JWST.

 

But, we're not completely out of the woods yet.

 

Starting sometime in the next 48 hours the alignment, calibration and testing of the mirror segments will begin.

 

Let's hope that at this late stage we don't have deja vu all over again and discover that these mirrors are faulty, just as Hubble's were.

 

Even then, all of the electronics, computer systems and telemetry have to work properly too.

 

There's little point in having a space telescope that works perfectly if you can't get the data back to Earth.

 

Here's hoping...

 

 

Thanks,

 

Walter.

[Derek]

Thing is, unlike Hubble, a maintenance mission isn't really possible (or maybe feasible) for Webb yet...so it kinda has to work right the first time

[pantheory]

24 minutes ago, Derek said:

Thing is, unlike Hubble, a maintenance mission isn't really possible (or maybe feasible) for Webb yet...so it kinda has to work right the first time

 Yup, you're right.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Oh what a wicked Webb we weave

When deep space secrets we will receive.

[walterpthefirst]

17 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

Oh what a wicked Webb we weave

When deep space secrets we will receive.

 

He's a poet

and we didn't know it.

 

[walterpthefirst]

Oh and here's a really good article on the next phase of Webb's preparation.

 

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2022/01/08/aligning-the-primary-mirror-segments-of-nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-with-light/

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Walter.

[TABA]

Hey Walter, thanks for the links and updates on Webb.  After all we learned from Hubble, I can only imagine what is in store for us over these next few years.  
 

Although I loved science even as a Christian, it’s nice to no longer have that nagging concern that some scientific discovery could make my faith unsustainable.  It turned out to be unsustainable even with what I already knew.  Good to be past all that…

[pantheory]

5 hours ago, TABA said:

Hey Walter, thanks for the links and updates on Webb.  After all we learned from Hubble, I can only imagine what is in store for us over these next few years.  
 

Although I loved science even as a Christian, it’s nice to no longer have that nagging concern that some scientific discovery could make my faith unsustainable.  It turned out to be unsustainable even with what I already knew.  Good to be past all that…

 

My fear is that some ex-religious folk or agnostics,  when science theory may  be entirely contradicted (like cosmology), that they will return to some kind of religious belief.  These would be the folks that haven't realized that mainstream science theories can be wrong, and that science is a self correcting process.

[walterpthefirst]

3 hours ago, pantheory said:

 

My fear is that some ex-religious folk or agnostics,  when science theory may  be entirely contradicted (like cosmology), that they will return to some kind of religions belief.  These would be the folks that haven't realized that mainstream science theories can be wrong, and that science is a self correcting process.

 

Fear not, Pantheory.

 

It's not your responsibility to ensure that these folks understand how science works.

 

It's theirs.

 

If they can't or won't put in the effort needed to do this, then all we can do is be ready to enlighten them, should they ask us.

 

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

 

[pantheory]

On 1/11/2022 at 3:09 PM, walterpthefirst said:

 

Fear not, Pantheory.

 

It's not your responsibility to ensure that these folks understand how science works.

 

It's theirs.

 

If they can't or won't put in the effort needed to do this, then all we can do is be ready to enlighten them, should they ask us.

 

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

 

 

Yes, but in this forum my explanations and links can help others understand science better, like most explanations with links attached. Readers that might question or disagree with my answers and links could research other possible answers, could provide their own answers, or ask me or someone else  their related questions. My rating on my profile here is as mentor. I was also an instructor of college students years ago.

[walterpthefirst]

7 hours ago, pantheory said:

 

Yes, but in this forum my explanations and links can help others understand science better, like most explanations with links also. Those readers that might question or disagree with my explanations and links could research other possible answers, provide their own answers, or ask me or someone else  their related questions. My rating on my profile here is as mentor. I was also an instructor of college students years ago.

 

Exactly, Pantheory.

 

My post addressed your fears, not your abilities.

 

You need not fear about people not understanding about how science works because the onus is upon them to seek out the facts from people like you.

 

The onus is not upon you to seek them out and impart the facts to them so that they don't draw incorrect conclusions about how science works.

 

The responsibility for seeking and asking is theirs, not yours.

 

So, please do not fear about something that is not your responsibility.

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

 

 

[pantheory]

15 hours ago, walterpthefirst said:

 

Exactly, Pantheory.

 

My post addressed your fears, not your abilities.

 

You need not fear about people not understanding about how science works because the onus is upon them to seek out the facts from people like you.

 

The onus is not upon you to seek them out and impart the facts to them so that they don't draw incorrect conclusions about how science works.

 

The responsibility for seeking and asking is theirs, not yours.

 

So, please do not fear about something that is not your responsibility.

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

 

 

 

No, I don't seek out such people. I never have. I believe in live-and-let-live concerning religious and science beliefs. When replying to topics in this forum, or when people ask me questions, I provide them with what I consider to be the best information that I know of and can find.  When that includes my own opinions, I add that the information being presented may not be mainstream as well as non-mainstream links Often I also try to include a briefing of mainstream theory if others have not already provided such information.

[walterpthefirst]

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/approved-programs/cycle-1-go

 

Above is a breakdown of how the Webb's observing time has been allocated.

 

Personally, I'm very pleased to see that the Alpha Centauri system will be closely observed.

 

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-public/1618.pdf  (See Exoplanets and Disks, 1618 - Searching Our Closest Neighbour for Planets and Zodiacal Emission.)

 

However, even though Webb has a much bigger light-gathering mirror than Hubble, it's not expected to be able to see anything as small as an Earth - sized exoplanet.

 

But even these aren't seen, there are other techniques that can be used to infer their presence.

 

I can explain if asked.

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

 

 

[pantheory]

Walter,

your quote: "Personally, I'm very pleased to see that the Alpha Centauri system will be closely observed."

Arthur P. Clarke and Robert Heinlein were science fiction writers back in the 1950’s.  I perused a sci-fi book by one of them back then concerning Alpha Centauri number nine. It was supposed to be the 9^th outer planet of 11 planets surrounding the largest star in the Alpha Centauri three-star system, Alpha Centauri A.  This ninth planet was supposed to be only slightly smaller than the Earth but larger than Mars, with a lot of water and hot and cold climates in various regions like the Earth. Some climate locations were considered good and humans had already lived there for maybe a half century. Although indigenous life there was undiscovered, they were trying to establish Earth life there.  It being science fiction, a lot of weird unanticipated and unknown things transpired.

So we have considered the possibilities of living in our closest star system for a long time now.

[walterpthefirst]

More news about Webb.

 

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

 

Thank you.

 

Walter.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

 Maybe we will get to see some of the grey people with large eyes!  I'm only half joking because I think they (and others) just might be out there.