Webb telescope update - this is such an exciting endeavor.

[NewHendoLib]

It is now drifting much more slowly toward L2, the final orbiting point - 86.2% of the way there, with another 10 days to go.

They are now adjusting those mirror segments (something that will take quite a long time, so that all of the segments work in concert).

In a sea of bad news, this endeavor shines as brightly as those gold plated mirrors! Science!!!!

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

[justhanginon]

1. Thanks for the update. This endeavor is mind-boggling.

[CrispyQ]

2. I'm so impressed with Hubble's images. I can't wait to see Webb's!

It's a little heartbreaking, too, to see what we're capable of, but knowing that we can't/won't work together as one to save our own planet.

[Torchlight]

3. One of the main goals is to look at first light.

and the epoch of reionization. I'm a bit impatient and on the edge of my seat for the readings and analyses to begin.

[lagomorph777]

4. All of the hundreds and hundreds of motors, pulleys, releases, etc had to work perfectly.

Those things all have a tendency to get stuck while operating in space (see the Galileo mission of the 1990s, or the current Lucy mission for examples). Webb has more mechanisms than any previous probe. It was scary, waiting for each piece to unfurl, unfold, and lock in place.

Almost all of the scary bits are behind us now.

Whew.

[Salviati]

8. The folks at NASA are the masters of under-promising and over-delivering...

And even the stuff that they under-promise is amazing, what they deliver is always astounding...

[GB_RN]

11. Yeah...

There were 344, single points of failure that existed during the deployment process.

A Mars landing has around 100 single points of failure and the Galileo probe only had 30! That makes the JWST enormously complicated compared to either one by comparison.

[lastlib]

5. Ah, the "Jewish Space Laser/Death Star" will soon be ready!

The Empire will then CRUSH the rebellion, and the Republic will become a faint memory!

Will Darth Manchin then take his place at Emperor tRump's side?? (wait, different evil Empire....)

[GB_RN]

12. Jews In Space!

😂

[GB_RN]

17. History Of The World Part I

😉

[Calista241]

6. I must check for Webb updates twice a day it seems like.

Don't know how i'm going to make it 6 months before they release a picture.

[dutch777]

7. Truly an amazing feat so far and so uplifting in these dark times. Rah Rah NASA!

We need more of this sort of BIG science...exploration, colonization...in the deep oceans, in space. We need to stretch beyond the mundane and the day to day to excite and engage the next generation in something other than petty squabbles and video games.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

9. Yay, science!!!

I saw a t-shirt at JPL which said, "As a Matter of Fact, I AM a Rocket Scientist!"

Made my day.

[BobTheSubgenius]

10. I've been quite excited by all the enthusiasm that Webb has generated among people who should know.

I wonder if it's powerful enough to look into deep space and find the soul of the GOP. Prolly not, but I'm still very much looking forward to seeing the images it does capture.

[Tommymac]

13. Can they please discover another Earth...this one is getting to be too much of a circus. nt

[Snackshack]

14. This really is an...

Amazing feat of Science, right up there with the LHC and ISS. That JWST will be orbiting close to a million miles away at L2 is equally impressive.

I can’t wait to see what JWST finds with the array of instruments it has on board. This is a very exciting time in Astronomy.