NPR

First stage of the sun shield deployment was successful yesterday. Further deployment over the next few days. This is one of the bits with the highest risk of failure.

Biffer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:08 am First stage of the sun shield deployment was successful yesterday. Further deployment over the next few days. This is one of the bits with the highest risk of failure.

How far away are we from the stage where somebody could pop up there to fix it if needs be? Decades I guess.

What time do we spot our first new civilisation on a distant planet? I've got some work to do this morning, but have time this afternoon to check out the first pictures.

GogLais wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:36 am

Biffer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:08 am First stage of the sun shield deployment was successful yesterday. Further deployment over the next few days. This is one of the bits with the highest risk of failure.

How far away are we from the stage where somebody could pop up there to fix it if needs be? Decades I guess.

There are plans to have robotic tech sorted out by the time the fuel reserves get low and then re-supply. No plans to send hoomans.

The next gen scope (LUVOIR) after this one is being designed with modularity and robotic resupply in mind too.

GogLais wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:36 am

Biffer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:08 am First stage of the sun shield deployment was successful yesterday. Further deployment over the next few days. This is one of the bits with the highest risk of failure.

How far away are we from the stage where somebody could pop up there to fix it if needs be? Decades I guess.

Sounds like this thing is a lot more complex than sending a person. We unfold a dam sight easier.

Insane_Homer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:47 am

GogLais wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:36 am

Biffer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:08 am First stage of the sun shield deployment was successful yesterday. Further deployment over the next few days. This is one of the bits with the highest risk of failure.

How far away are we from the stage where somebody could pop up there to fix it if needs be? Decades I guess.

There are plans to have robotic tech sorted out by the time the fuel reserves get low and then re-supply. No plans to send hoomans.

The next gen scope (LUVOIR) after this one is being designed with modularity and robotic resupply in mind too.

Well, there are plans to look in to the possibility of using robotic tech.

It’s not been designed to be refuelled.

In terms of actually getting there though, the technology being developed around future human missions to the moon and Mars would enable sending someone there. Whether or not you could actually do anything once you’ve got there is another thing entirely.

So …. On the orbit of this thing.

At what rate does it orbit the Sun?

Slower than earth presumably??

Just reading now

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/ ... nge-point/

Same as earth, stays in place.

Is L1 where they found our moonlet recently?

Ymx wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:59 am Is L1 where they found our moonlet recently?

Looks like he's in front of the last feet to me. Penalty Earth.

Sandstorm wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:45 am What time do we spot our first new civilisation on a distant planet? I've got some work to do this morning, but have time this afternoon to check out the first pictures.

Reminds me of Gandhi being asked what he thought of Western civilization and he said he thought it would be a good idea.

GogLais wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:02 am

Sandstorm wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:45 am What time do we spot our first new civilisation on a distant planet? I've got some work to do this morning, but have time this afternoon to check out the first pictures.

Reminds me of Gandhi being asked what he thought of Western civilization and he said he thought it would be a good idea.

Ymx wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:56 am Just reading now

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/ ... nge-point/

Same as earth, stays in place.

Yep. Same speed. It’s a gravity null point, so it moves with the gravity well of earth. L2 is the more complicated one to understand, as it depends on the gravity of earth moving and dragging the L2 point round in its orbit faster than it would otherwise go. L1 and L3 are pretty easy to figure out logically. I’ve never done the maths for L4/L5.

They didn’t find the moonlet at L1. If it was there, it wouldn’t be in Earth’s orbit, so wouldn’t be considered a moonlet. Things do collect at the Lagrange points though, I think in particular at L4&5. From memory there are a few small asteroids that orbit at those points.

Biffer wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:06 am

Ymx wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:56 am Just reading now

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/ ... nge-point/

Same as earth, stays in place.

Yep. Same speed. It’s a gravity null point, so it moves with the gravity well of earth. L2 is the more complicated one to understand, as it depends on the gravity of earth moving and dragging the L2 point round in its orbit faster than it would otherwise go. L1 and L3 are pretty easy to figure out logically. I’ve never done the maths for L4/L5.

They didn’t find the moonlet at L1. If it was there, it wouldn’t be in Earth’s orbit, so wouldn’t be considered a moonlet. Things do collect at the Lagrange points though, I think in particular at L4&5. From memory there are a few small asteroids that orbit at those points.

And Clangers..

What a crazy orbit pattern. Must be some cool maths behind that!

Ymx wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:36 pm

What a crazy orbit pattern. Must be some cool maths behind that!

is that to slow it down?

Grandpa wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:41 pm

Ymx wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:36 pm

What a crazy orbit pattern. Must be some cool maths behind that!

is that to slow it down?

No, it’s for a number of reasons, such as keeping it out of the shadow of earth so that it’s solar panels work and it’s at a constant temperature. It’s also not the only mission using or wanting to use L2, so generally missions that go there orbit around the Lagrange point rather than sitting in it.

Biffer wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:10 pm

Grandpa wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:41 pm

Ymx wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:36 pm

What a crazy orbit pattern. Must be some cool maths behind that!

is that to slow it down?

No, it’s for a number of reasons, such as keeping it out of the shadow of earth so that it’s solar panels work and it’s at a constant temperature. It’s also not the only mission using or wanting to use L2, so generally missions that go there orbit around the Lagrange point rather than sitting in it.

Thank you

past 50% distance (52%)

Sunshield deployment continues

Insane_Homer wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 11:06 am past 50% distance (52%)

Sunshield deployment continues

This is the bit I’ve been nervous about. Problems with the sun shield deployment and separation were what delayed the launch from 2018.

Must be due some photos soon?

How are they likely to look? Just monotone? It’s not normal light spectrum is it? Infrared.

Ymx wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:03 pm Must be due some photos soon?

How are they likely to look? Just monotone? It’s not normal light spectrum is it? Infrared.

Nope. There's six months of commissioning to get the instruments up and running.

Of course it’s going to be that long with you lot !!!

Ymx wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:27 am Of course it’s going to be that long with you lot !!!

It's been thirty years so far, a few more months is fine.

They still setting up the telescope. In order to get it to work properly, they have to align the mirrors - that alignment is incredibly precise. A few tens of nanometers I think.

I did look it up after I asked. And saw 6 months was the answer after a lot of calibration.

How about the images? What are they going to look like? Assume we won’t see the same beautiful images we did from Hubble?

Ymx wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:33 am How about the images? What are they going to look like? Assume we won’t see the same beautiful images we did from Hubble?

Yes, lack of full visible spectrum as our eye sees (quiet narrowly banded) isn't going to produce eye-candy as we know it. The focus on IR (broader wavelength range) at very low temps to see further back into the Universe and through dust negates that. Not that they won't be stunningly beautiful in their own way.

Ymx wrote: Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:33 am I did look it up after I asked. And saw 6 months was the answer after a lot of calibration.

How about the images? What are they going to look like? Assume we won’t see the same beautiful images we did from Hubble?

Well, it's mostly IR, so pretty much every single image will be false colour (that's where we allocate a colour to a particular IR wavelength to make a pretty picture / emphasise the important stuff, depending on your view). But they'll be like most other astronomy images you see, just in more detail.

What we will get however, is more stuff like this



where we can see the planets around other stars. The star in the middle is obscured by a thing called a coronagraph (basically it's just a disc inside the telescope or instrument to block the star's light).

Some of the most interesting stuff scientifically will be images captured of stellar and galactic formation. No idea what these might reveal. We might also get images of accretion disks around black holes / neutron stars somewhere, not sure about that (would be amazing if we did).

Last thing, and possibly the coolest is that we can look at the spectra of the atmospheres of planets around other stars. When you look at the spectrum of light you're looking at all of the differents colours (wavelengths) that make up that light. Different chemical elements and compounds have different spectral patterns - for example the old orange street lights are sodium lamps, that's what gives them the orange colour. Neon lights use different elements for different colours - neon itself is an orangey red, add some argon it's blue, some krypton green. So when we look at the detail of the spectrum of light (and by light here, I'm including infra red light) we can tell which gases are in the atmosphere of that planet. From that you can start to hypothesise what's going on on that planet. If you have methane in an atmosphere, something must be producing it because it's quite reactive and wouldn't sit there for thousands of years without something producing it - that could be geological, could be a weathering mechanism or it could be biological. I've met people who are already doing serious modelling of atmospheres on non solar planets - it's not some weirdo loopy tunes stuff, it's proper in depth academic study.

By the by, there's also other space hardware made in Scotland being launched today on the SpaceX launch this afternoon, made by Alba Orbital in Glasgow

Not sure which thread to post this on.

Apols if old. But brilliant prank at space station.

Listened to an older episode of the excellent Explain the Universe podcasts the other day that there are almost certainly Tardigrades on the moon now.

Kawazaki wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:23 am Listened to an older episode of the excellent Explain the Universe podcasts the other day that there are almost certainly Tardigrades on the moon now.

Yeah, it's more than likely. They'[re very conscious of that kind of thing with modern planetary missions though, I think there now has to be some kind of biological sterility for anything that goes to another planet or moon. Not 100% certain.

Biffer wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 1:22 pm

Kawazaki wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:23 am Listened to an older episode of the excellent Explain the Universe podcasts the other day that there are almost certainly Tardigrades on the moon now.

Yeah, it's more than likely. They'[re very conscious of that kind of thing with modern planetary missions though, I think there now has to be some kind of biological sterility for anything that goes to another planet or moon. Not 100% certain.

There will likely have been some present on JWST/inside Ariana as well, no?

Kawazaki wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 1:28 pm

Biffer wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 1:22 pm

Kawazaki wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:23 am Listened to an older episode of the excellent Explain the Universe podcasts the other day that there are almost certainly Tardigrades on the moon now.

Yeah, it's more than likely. They'[re very conscious of that kind of thing with modern planetary missions though, I think there now has to be some kind of biological sterility for anything that goes to another planet or moon. Not 100% certain.

There will likely have been some present on JWST/inside Ariana as well, no?

Yeah, but it's just sitting in deep space so not really a concern.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/11/2292 ... rst-images


https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/

First pic is through. It is truly old - look closely

Well, fuck



Although I prefer the combined NirCam / MIRI image

And this is astonishing too



There are best quality images from Hubble attached to those threads, for comparison to our best view of these before today