James Webb Space Telescope

[Christopher K.]

The flight structure for the JWST is now at Goddard. The structure will hold the telescope's eighteen beryllium mirrors; beryllium is a lightweight and corrosion-resistant metal. The 1:36 video "James Webb Space Telescope Stands Tall" is currently in the third-to-last row in NASA's video archive...
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html

More information:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/main/index.html

[Christopher K.]

Tomorrow at 8am CDT both NASA-TVs will broadcast a science briefing on the JWST. As of June, the primary mirror (consisting of eighteen hexagonal segments) was fully constructed.

There are actually two webcams allowing interested people to view the construction live...
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/webcam.html

[Christopher K.]

The science briefing of Wednesday will be rebroadcast at 8am CDT and 7pm CDT tomorrow, and 7am CDT and 3pm CDT Sunday, on both NASA-TVs.

Wednesday's NASA Image of the Day was a shot of the JWST primary mirror...
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/james ... ic-puzzles

[Christopher K.]

The ScienceCasts series has issued a 3:36 video titled "Shake, Rattle and Cold" about the preparation for the JWST's launch. The JWST is being touted as the "most sophisticated space science telescope ever" and its planned launch is in October 2018. Its primary mirror is three times wider than Hubble's.

The video:
https://science.nasa.gov/sciencecasts/r ... for-launch

[Christopher K.]

A status briefing on the James Webb will be broadcast on both NASA-TVs this Wednesday at 1pm CST. It is hoped that the new instrument will obtain crucial data on brown dwarfs.

More information:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/20 ... own-dwarfs

[Christopher K.]

During the first week of February, the James Webb left Johnson Space Center. The JWST went to California on board a United States Air Force C-5 Galaxy built by Lockheed; the JWST is a joint project of NASA, ESA and CSA (the Canadian Space Agency). It will focus mostly on infrared detection.

More information:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/comb ... -arrive-in

An older story about the C5 Galaxy:
https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display ... certified/

[Christopher K.]

From what I understand, the Space Telescope Science Institute is hosting a JWST Master Class, 18 November to 22 November in Baltimore.

Applications are open for approximately twenty-five participants. These people will then train others in their region of the world. The Class is for all potential professional observers; career stages and research interests can be varied among the small group.

Meanwhile, the JWST Cycle 1 General Observer proposal deadline in Spring 2020. This is good news! JWST may well launch in 2021!

The online application:
https://stsci.slideroom.com/#/login/program/47933

[Christopher K.]

And a very Merry Christmas to all! The James Webb is scheduled to launch early the morning of the 25th between 6:20am and 6:52am. The launch will be carried live on NASA-TV.

More information:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2021/12/21/ ... ch-update/

[Christopher K.]

Here is the Christmas Day schedule so far (Central Time)...
2am = Ariane rocket fueling
2:30am = live rocket views and highlights regarding the JWST
5am = launch commentary begins
6:20am = launch
7:30am = replay of launch
8am = Post-Launch Briefing

For several years space exploration enthusiasts have been waiting for this day. As we follow the confirmation that in-telescope systems are behaving as they should, and receive the schedule for placement and "first light" of the James Webb, we will also be considering which days will be the Hubble's last.

The launch will take place in French Guiana...
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observ ... nch_Guiana
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel ... uiana.html