Now That James Webb Is Active, What's It Been Up To?

Obviously, the big space news this month is James Webb, and the numerous images it's sent back. You've probably seen that iconic first image, the deep field view of a tiny corner of the universe, peering back billions of years. But it's done more than that, and this is a good review of the telescope's first couple weeks of activity. I'm excited for what's to come: James Webb has imaged the TRAPPIST-1 system, well known for hosting multiple potentially habitable planets. The data's still being analyzed, but we'll know soon.

James Webb's iconic first image.

James Webb Has Arrived

Yes, the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its final resting spot (the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point) and has fully deployed. Now all we have to do is wait for it to cool down, and the science will start to pour in. Bonus points: It seems to have used less fuel than initially predicted to reach L2, so the James Webb team says the telescope should be able to operate beyond the 10 years they originally planned on. That's some great news right there.

A Post That Isn't About Golf or Beer

It's been a while, hasn't it? 

I suppose the big news as of late is the James Webb telescope, which has finally stopped being a punchline and is actually out in space, heading toward its final position a million miles from Earth, off at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2. As of January 6, it's deployed its radiator and its secondary mirrors. It won't be fully cooled off until summer, but the deployment process has gone well thus far. And it has to, considering that nothing can go wrong. It's not like Hubble, there's no fixing the mirror if it's misaligned. In that regard, it's probably a good thing they took so long to launch it. Still, I can't imagine anyone on that project has done much sleeping in the past couple weeks. I know I'd be struggling.

Oh, and don't worry, we'll be right back to our regularly scheduled golf and beer programming. 

The James Webb Telescope Won't be a Joke Much Longer

Yes, not only does it have an official launch date (March 2021), but the telescope and the scientific instruments have been put together. So that's only about 10 years late. Maybe more.

Yeah, that's all I've got for this week. I'm just impressed this stupid telescope is actually moving forward in a coherent fashion.

More Delays For James Webb Telescope

One day, they'll get this thing into space. Maybe. The James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble, has had its launch pushed back many times. Many, many times. Apparently the original plan was to have the telescope in space by 2007. The new launch schedule is for March 2021. So close. So very close.

Also, $800 million is being added to the price, bringing the total up to almost $10 billion. And this new inflated budget goes above the limit set by Congress, which means that in order for the project to continue, it has to be reauthorized by Congress. We'll see if we can manage it in our current political climate.

Don't get me wrong, James Webb will do great work. Eventually. If and when it does get to space. But to pretend its development has been anything other than a mess...no. It's almost become one of those perpetual "oh, it's just a few years down the road" sort of things, and that's unfortunate.

Today in Big Space Telescope News: What Comes After James Webb?

Talk about impatient. We've still got more than a year before the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble's long-delayed successor, launches, but NASA's already talking about what comes next. It takes a long time to plan out these big flagship space missions, and the JWST comes with a big catch that Hubble didn't have. It's not serviceable. For one, if there's a problem with it right off the bat like there was with Hubble, we're in trouble, and secondly, it means we can't add on to it. That's why Hubble's lasted as long as it has. Hubble now is a completely different beast compared to when it launched in 1990. Here's a fun fact for you, the JWST is technically in violation of the law because it can't be serviced. Congress actually passed a law in 2010 about that. I guess the JWST was grandfathered in or something.

So anyway, what will succeed James Webb? The strongest contender is the Large UV/Optical/Infrared Survey (LUVOIR). But whatever comes next will be big, probably twice the size of the 6.5 meter telescope on the JWST. A telescope that big is needed for the search for habitable exoplanets. Sure, we've found lots of candidates and potential exoplanets, but for now, that's all they are. Potential. James Webb will be able to image a few, but there's no guarantee any of the worlds it'll probe will be Earth-like. At this point, we have no idea how common Earth-like planets are. Maybe it won't be a problem, but maybe it will. Maybe we'll need something bigger to increase our odds. Of course, the next massive space-based telescope will also do other things, such as take reasonable images of Pluto and Kuiper Belt objects.

Of course, all this is at least 10 years down the road, I'm sure, so don't hold your breath for anything. There's a quality conclusion right there.