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Life After Hubble

rynner2

rynner2

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Messages
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The facts are simple. Launched in 1990, the telescope was always destined to have a limited life. Planning is well under way for a new space telescope - the James Webb - to launch in 2011 and the Hubble mission is slated to end by 2010.

But it need not be that way, argue Hubble's supporters. Such are the passions surrounding the subject that Nasa has chartered a panel of experts to determine the best way to manage the transition.

The panel has already received hundreds of e-mails offering suggestions and raising concerns about the changes.

Edward Cheng, who worked as a development scientist on the Hubble programme, told BBC News Online that there were simple reasons why so many astronomers felt so strongly.

"They don't know a world without Hubble," he said. Such is the volume of data that the telescope has been able to gather, that scientists' first reaction now when faced with an idea or question is always "What can Hubble tell us?", he explained.
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Part of a long article about plans for decommisioning the space telescope, and the intense debate it's causing amongst astronomers. Full article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3115159.stm
Hubble is said to give Nasa 33% of its results for less than 2% of its budget, and its fans would like to see its life extended as long as possible.
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All good things come to an end, but I certainly hope they'll keep Hubble going for as long as they can. After all, the Russians kept the Mir station patched-up and just about spaceworthy for quite a few years. Surely the Hubble should be kept going for as long as it can produce worthwhile data?
One of the appeals of the Hubble is that it not only provides a wealth of data to highly-trained astronomers, but it also produces astounding pictures which even a complete astronomical ignoramus can marvel at. (Which I do!):)
What was it the report said about the James Webb - it didn't have vision in a particular ultraviolet frequency or something like that. Well, I hope that with the success of the Hubble, they should be planning at least two more LSTs which can do everything the Hubble can do, and more besides. I know these things don't grow on trees, but for such a modest part of NASA's budget, it sounds worthwhile to me.
Finally, don't be so sure you won't see the Hubble in the National Air and Space Museum one day. I know they want to de-orbit it straight into the Pacific, but if the shuttle flies again in 2-3 years, and if it's a success, I think it would be worthwhile going to pick it up. After all, it's got till 2010 in any event.

Big Bill Robinson
 
The Hubble Telescope has had a memory crash as the 1989 software has given out.

The technicians are trying to reroute memory through other on board computers.

I think 30 years old is really good in space.
 
James Webb Space Telescope is soon ready for launch, expected to be in November 2021. It was delayed several times for several years.
It's possible they have been waiting for a powerful enough rocket. This one is not going to circle the Earth, but the Sun.
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NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch may slip to November​

By Chelsea Gohd 20 days ago
A Halloween launch for NASA's next space telescope is looking unlikely.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope may not launch on Halloween (Oct. 31) after all.

Despite previous delays, progress on the highly anticipated Webb — billed as the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope — has been steadily ongoing. For example, in May, the mission team recently unfolded Webb's giant, golden mirror for the last time on Earth in the last major prelaunch test for the telescope's mirror system. The telescope is set to be shipped in August to Kourou, French Guiana, where Webb will launch to space atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center.

However, while takeoff has been slated for Oct. 31, it seems that the launch might not happen until the following month.

https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-delay-november-2021


1624364030798.png
 
Amergin said:
I had a (very) little involvement with this! One of the parts for one of the instruments on board.
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Well done! If everything goes to plan, you've helped make history.

It'll be ages before we actually know whether everything's worked, of course. Unless something goes wrong before that.
 
...and as the rocket cleared the tower, one of the scientists turned to the others and whispered, "guys, you did do that last final check on the mirrors...didn't you?"
 
DrPaulLee said:
...and as the rocket cleared the tower, one of the scientists turned to the others and whispered, "guys, you did do that last final check on the mirrors...didn't you?"
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'Not yet, they're in the hanger, I'll do it in a minute. Er... they weren't supposed to be on that rocket, were they?'
 
I have a rather interesting tale in relation to the design of this telescope, and some of the very challenging deployment technologies, which were not actually supposed to exist at the time…
 
Amergin said:
I have a rather interesting tale in relation to the design of this telescope, and some of the very challenging deployment technologies, which were not actually supposed to exist at the time…
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You can't just drop that without details. Do tell!
 
PeteByrdie said:
You can't just drop that without details. Do tell!
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Well I could tell you, but then I’d have to club you with the Tesco telescope…

Ok so this is all a bit vague now, but I shall do my best to relay the tale...

I work in optical engineering. I was at a conference some years ago in the early days of the JWST and I was talking to folks who were involved in the programme. The conversation turned to the primary mirror, how such a large yet lightweight structure could be unfolded and the separate mirror segments co-aligned to the required tight tolerances.
It was suggested that NASA were getting some assistance from US military R&D. (After the Star Wars program a number of classified optical technologies were put into the public domain, adaptive optics, high power solid state lasers etc. so sharing military tech is not without precedent).
Anyway there was apparently some early-days meeting, a sort of, “How can we help you?” thing between NASA / astronomy tech people and military tech people.
The Hubble Space Telescope mirror diameter has been limited by the size of the shuttle payload bay, so for the JWST to have a significantly larger mirror the team needed some very advanced mirror technology indeed. Someone commented that it would be fantastic to have a folding mirror of such a size with x number of segments, but that’s something they are really struggling with. The military response was simply along the lines of “Don’t worry about that. That’s something we routinely do.”
Astronomy / NASA folks were agog, “What, you’ve already deployed large folding mirrors in space”
Cryptic response:
“Don’t worry about it, we’ve got that.”
 
Amergin said:
Well I could tell you, but then I’d have to club you with the Tesco telescope…

Ok so this is all a bit vague now, but I shall do my best to relay the tale...

I work in optical engineering. I was at a conference some years ago in the early days of the JWST and I was talking to folks who were involved in the programme. The conversation turned to the primary mirror, how such a large yet lightweight structure could be unfolded and the separate mirror segments co-aligned to the required tight tolerances.
It was suggested that NASA were getting some assistance from US military R&D. (After the Star Wars program a number of classified optical technologies were put into the public domain, adaptive optics, high power solid state lasers etc. so sharing military tech is not without precedent).
Anyway there was apparently some early-days meeting, a sort of, “How can we help you?” thing between NASA / astronomy tech people and military tech people.
The Hubble Space Telescope mirror diameter has been limited by the size of the shuttle payload bay, so for the JWST to have a significantly larger mirror the team needed some very advanced mirror technology indeed. Someone commented that it would be fantastic to have a folding mirror of such a size with x number of segments, but that’s something they are really struggling with. The military response was simply along the lines of “Don’t worry about that. That’s something we routinely do.”
Astronomy / NASA folks were agog, “What, you’ve already deployed large folding mirrors in space”
Cryptic response:
“Don’t worry about it, we’ve got that.”
Click to expand...
I suppose we shouldn't be very surprised.
 
Amergin said:
Well I could tell you, but then I’d have to club you with the Tesco telescope…

Ok so this is all a bit vague now, but I shall do my best to relay the tale...

I work in optical engineering. I was at a conference some years ago in the early days of the JWST and I was talking to folks who were involved in the programme. The conversation turned to the primary mirror, how such a large yet lightweight structure could be unfolded and the separate mirror segments co-aligned to the required tight tolerances.
It was suggested that NASA were getting some assistance from US military R&D. (After the Star Wars program a number of classified optical technologies were put into the public domain, adaptive optics, high power solid state lasers etc. so sharing military tech is not without precedent).
Anyway there was apparently some early-days meeting, a sort of, “How can we help you?” thing between NASA / astronomy tech people and military tech people.
The Hubble Space Telescope mirror diameter has been limited by the size of the shuttle payload bay, so for the JWST to have a significantly larger mirror the team needed some very advanced mirror technology indeed. Someone commented that it would be fantastic to have a folding mirror of such a size with x number of segments, but that’s something they are really struggling with. The military response was simply along the lines of “Don’t worry about that. That’s something we routinely do.”
Astronomy / NASA folks were agog, “What, you’ve already deployed large folding mirrors in space”
Cryptic response:
“Don’t worry about it, we’ve got that.”
Click to expand...
That should’ve been TASCO, not Tesco telescope!
 
From TMZ online, famed astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson who over sees the Hayden Planetarium and the TV shows Nova and Cosmos has claimed that he has received corespondents from religious people and religious organizations to the effect that the Webb Telescope will destroy belief in a God.

Neil’s answer is that new discoveries in space will not challenge religion but should inspire all people to new facts of our existence.
 
charliebrown said:
Neil’s answer is that new discoveries in space will not challenge religion but should inspire all people to new facts of our existence.
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He's right. If we find aliens or they find us, people are free to continue believing in whatever they want.
 
So what about the opposite?

Using such technology to prove god exists?

Where do these religious folk stand on that?
 
I guess religion and science will always fight each other.

In the past the Vatican said aliens were also God’s creation and they would be accepted into the Church.
 
Would a space telescope be of much use to the military? I'd imagine a satellite or spy plane could do the job better, if you are looking at the Earth.
 
A space telescope is a specialised kind of spy satellite, with a very large reflecting mirror, pointing at the Earth rather than at space. Spy planes can be shot down.

The telescopes described in that article have a larger field of view than a typical astronomy telescope, so could potentially gather a lot of data from a wider slice of the Earth. To adapt them for astronomy would require a fairly comprehensive redesign.
 
eburacum said:
A space telescope is a specialised kind of spy satellite, with a very large reflecting mirror, pointing at the Earth rather than at space. Spy planes can be shot down.
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? - Didn't you mean:
A space telescope is a specialised kind of spy satellite, with a very large reflecting mirror, pointing outward at space rather than at the Earth.
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No. I think I may have confused you somehow by poorly expressing myself.

These particular military space telescopes were designed to point at Earth, looking at locations of (military) interest. The two telescopes mentioned in that article (which had not been completed or launched at that time) were approximately as large as Hubble, but they had significantly different field-of-view characteristics, so would not be much use as astronomical telescopes without significant adjustment.
 
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It could also be that they want to use the giant mirror to concentrate light onto certain parts of the Earth, like a magnifying glass on an ant.

The observable part of the universe is called the Hubble Volume. I'm a bit sad that they didn't name it the Hubble Bubble.
 
eburacum said:
No. I think I may have confused you somehow by poorly expressing myself.

These particular military space telescopes were designed to point at Earth, looking at locations of (military) interest. The two telescopes mentioned in that article (which had not been completed or launched at that time) were approximately as large as Hubble, but they had significantly different field-of-view characteristics, so would not be much use as astronomical telescopes without significant adjustment.
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Thanks for the clarification.

Yes - the optical (etc.) specifications and requirements for a space-based orbital 'look-down' surveillance telescope versus a space-based 'look-outward' astronomical telescope are quite different. The capabilities mismatch applies in both directions. Hubble would make a miserable earth surveillance platform.
 
So far so good...

James Webb Space Telescope: Sun shield is fully deployed​

_112909951_jonathanamos.jpg
Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent
@BBCAmoson Twitter

Published3 hours ago
Share

This is Webb's current configuration. Its shield is deployed but its mirrors are still stowed
The new James Webb telescope has passed a major milestone in its quest to image the first stars to shine in the cosmos.
Controllers on Tuesday completed the deployment of the space observatory's giant kite-shaped sun shield.
Only with this tennis court-sized barrier will Webb have the sensitivity to detect the signals coming from the most distant objects in the Universe.
Commissioning work will now concentrate on unpacking the telescope's mirrors, the largest of which is 6.5m wide.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59873738
 
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