anyone read / hear anything on if the 2018 launch is still in the works?

James West Space Telescope has been delayed to 2019 or maybe a bit further.

https://spacenews.com/nasa-str...oss-the-finish-line/

If you’re talking about JWST nope, not until 2021. Check News at jwst.nasa.gov.

Yeah, it keeps sliding.

The official page now says 2021.

https://jwst.nasa.gov/launch.html

It should send back awesome photos. If it is half as useful as the Hubble, it will be great.

Thanks guys.

Yeah and since it's leaving Low Earth Orbit for Lagrange L2 point, it's gotta be right the first and only time. No rescue / fix-er-up missions!

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
It should send back awesome photos. If it is half as useful as the Hubble, it will be great.

Interestingly, some of the largest ground telescopes are getting adaptive optics which can provide images fully the equal of Hubble’s. Can’t do IR from the ground as well as JWST will, but we should be seeing a big increase in high resolution optical images in the future no matter how long the original Hubble lasts.

Re: “No rescue / fix-er-up missions!”

Station-keeping propellant is a consumable that may need replacement. There’s some discussion of that in this thread:

https://space.stackexchange.co...ns-out-of-propellant

So what's the advantage of placing the telescope so far out?

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
So what's the advantage of placing the telescope so far out?

Check out the video in the post above yours at about the 9:35 point.

JWST: Launch of Hubble's successor pushed back to 2021 27 June 2018

The successor to the Hubble observatory will not now launch until 30 March 2021 at the earliest.

The 29-month delay, from October this year, follows a review into the technical challenges currently facing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The date change and the extra work required pushes the likely cost of the project to $9.66bn (£7.27bn).

JWST will use a huge mirror and state-of-the-art instruments to try to see the first stars to shine in the cosmos.

It will have the power as well to resolve the atmospheres of some of the new planets being discovered beyond our Solar System, and to analyse their atmospheres for the potential for life.

The US space agency has expressed frustration at the latest setback. However, its science director, Thomas Zurbuchen, argued that "Webb would be worth the wait".

"By setting this new launch date, Nasa agrees with the central findings of the Independent Review Board (IRB) that the development of the telescope should move forward because of the exceptional potential that it has and the spectacular science that will be returned when Webb is out there in space."

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Re: “No rescue / fix-er-up missions!”

Station-keeping propellant is a consumable that may need replacement. There’s some discussion of that in this thread:

https://space.stackexchange.co...ns-out-of-propellant

Interesting - I hope if JWST succeeds in getting on station and providing valuable science that they find a way to keep it going.

But still refill propellant is a lot different than the continue level of effort to keep Hubble flying. IE if JWSTs mirrors or any other large component fail, it's pretty much game over.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
So what's the advantage of placing the telescope so far out?

https://jwst.nasa.gov/orbit.html

It orbits the sun, not earth, and the website above says that orbit allows the satellite's sunshield to better protect it and shield the mirrors from the sun. Because the main mission of the telescope is to look in the infrared, it needs to be well shielded against hot, bright things like the sun.