James Webb Scope passes the moon's Orbit today

[justoffal]

At 25% of the distance but only about 10% percent of the travel time JWST has eclipsed the Orbit of our moon at about 249,000 miles out and continues its upward climb against Earth's gravitational pull in a decelerating coast towards L2.

Let The excitement and discovery begin!

Where Is Webb? NASA/Webb

During Webb's launch, deployment and commissioning, 'WhereIsWebb' tracked Webb's 'flight' to L2 orbit, its state and progress during its deployment and commissioning process, and finally the release of its first images. This process is now complete. During this process, the page constantly...

webb.nasa.gov

JO

 

[Esdraelon]

30 days to get to L2 at one million miles away! Now, THAT is a "whirlwind tour" The images should begin to be available for viewing in about 6 months. What a summer we have coming...

 

[excalibur]

Unlike with the Hubble, if there are any problems with the Webb they won't get fixed.

 

[justoffal]

30 days to get to L2 at one million miles away! Now, THAT is a "whirlwind tour" The images should begin to be available for viewing in about 6 months. What a summer we have coming...

I haven't felt this giddy since I was a kid on my very first Christmas.

 

[justoffal]

Unlike with the Hubble, if there are any problems with the Webb they won't get fixed.

I know.....fingers crossed

 

[Chillicothe]

"I haven't felt this giddy since I was a kid on my very first Christmas."

I quite agree with you 'justoffal'. Exciting stuff.
Living in America. In these times. Is an amazing experience.
We are all so fortunate.

I've long described myself as an optimistic skeptic....and I'm diligently tamping down the skepticism (because of all those 'single-point-failure' threshholds).......but so optimistacally encouraged that American leadership can develope, can organize, and cooridinate ...and fund.....such and amazing opportunity for us to know so much more.

USA!
USA!!*

(*and the international partners involved)

 

[Mac1958]

SO DAMN COOL

 

[Chillicothe]

Today's New York Time has coverage on what's going on with the telescope.
Some fun writing.
Clearly, the reporters....Overbye and Roulette.... are fans.

I'll pull some paragraphs as a taster.
If you don't have a subscription....sometimes you can go in the backdoor through Google, even YouTube,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"600,000 Miles Away, a Giant Eye Blinks Open"

"Astronomers are starting to beathe again.
Two weeks ago, the msot powerful space observatory ever built roared into the sky, carrying the hopes and dreams of a generation of astronomers in a tightly wrapped package of mirrors, wires, motors, cables, latches and willowy sheets of thin plastic on a pillar of smoke and fire."

(Now that was a feat to get that paragraph past an uptight Times editor!!)

"Then on Wednesday, the telescope unfurled its secondary mirror, which points at the 18 hexagons, reflecting what the telescope saw back to its sensors.
"We're about 600.000 miles from Earth, and we actually have a telescope," Mr. OChs said.....

Alan Dressler of the Carnegie Observatory...." what resonates at this moment is the extraordinary ability of our species to collaborate, to organize thousands of peple to work carefullly, relentlessly, unselfishly, and seemingly endlessly toward some greater human good."

A Giant Telescope Grows in Space

Everything is going great for the James Webb Space Telescope. So far.

www.nytimes.com