isn't Chandra in the same boat to far out to refuel the cryogenic system and why it's nearly kaput ? running out of the coolant ....

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An X-ray telescope should not need any coolant. An infrared like Spitzer yes. I believe JWST operates in near infrared but I don't think it needs a coolant. The Lagrange points are used to be far from the Earth and the radiation it emits.
Tullio

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I'm not shore which one it is but i thought they had to cool it down to almost absolute zero to be able to see the background signal you could be right about it being spitzer , but i m shore i read it will run out of coolent so it will be useless and it's to far away to refuel ...

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I think it is still used in a low resolution capability. It can be cool out there in space.
Tullio

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Yep Tullio -178 c is cold alright you would think that would be cold enough but nada

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Thanks for the link Julie.
I will miss Hubble :(

Whatcha talkin 'bout Willis?!

There are THREE Hubbles, and they are still up there, and operational. Two of them were pointing down instead of up, and NRO handed them off to NASA two years ago after admitting they exist.

This probably means a Webb type scope is already in orbit. Why would NRO give up their Hubbles otherwise?

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There are THREE Hubbles, and they are still up there, and operational. Two of them were pointing down instead of up, and NRO handed them off to NASA two years ago after admitting they exist.

Documentation? If true I missed that one.

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I think they are still on the ground. NRO wanted to donate them to NASA but NASA does not have the money to convert them to astronomical observations. The JWST has a much bigger multimirror.
Tullio

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There are THREE Hubbles, and they are still up there, and operational. Two of them were pointing down instead of up, and NRO handed them off to NASA two years ago after admitting they exist.

Documentation? If true I missed that one.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nasa-gets-military-spy-telescopes-for-astronomy/2012/06/04/gJQAsT6UDV_story.html
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2012/06/nro-gives-nasa.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112548083/nro-gives-nasa-two-hubble-sized-telescopes/
http://www.space.com/20955-nasa-spy-satellite-telescopes-missions.html
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=20825
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/jason-davis/nasa-gets-two-hand-me-down.html

The last link at The Planetary Society, surmizes that these are actually two more that were part of the Keyhole program, which currently has 15 birds in orbit, probably of this type.

Oh, and I guess my wetware had a glitch. These two have never been launched. Still in cold storage.

I'm sure you can find more links.

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Thanx

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Thanx for the links Jim, most interesting:)

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I think they are still on the ground. NRO wanted to donate them to NASA but NASA does not have the money to convert them to astronomical observations. The JWST has a much bigger multimirror.
Tullio

Talked to a friend, who says the scuttlebutt around JPL is there are two replacements for Hubble in the works. That likely means they are shopping around for proposals for the detection equipment to attach to the already built mirror and what they should be pointing it at once in orbit. Don't know if the mirror spec is for UV, Optical or IR. I'm sure it has been in storage long enough that they will have to recoat it anyway.

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Revolutionary Microshutter Technology Hurdles Significant Challenges

Considered among the most innovative technologies to fly on the Webb telescope, the microshutter assembly is created from micro-electro-mechanical technologies and comprises thousands of tiny shutters, each about the width of a human hair.
Assembled on four postage-size grids or arrays, the 250,000 shutters open or close individually to allow only the light from targeted objects to enter Webb’s Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), which will help identify types of stars and gases and measure their distances and motions. Because Webb will observe faint, far-away objects, it will take as long as a week for NIRSpec to gather enough light to obtain good spectra.
NIRSpec’s microshutter array, however, enhances the instrument’s observing efficiencies. It will allow scientists to gather spectral data on 100 objects at a time, vastly increasing the observatory’s productivity. When NASA launches the Webb telescope in 2018, it will represent a first for multi-object spectroscopy.

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Update:


James Webb Space Telescope "Pathfinder" Backplane's Path to NASA

The “central backbone” of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope practice-model recently took a cross-country trip to be part of a simulation of putting together vital parts of the telescope. The pathfinder recently traveled a path across the country from California to Maryland.
The pathfinder, a non-flight replica of the Webb telescope’s center backplane was assembled and tested at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. The actual flight backplane comes in three segments, a main part and two wing-like parts, all of which will support large hexagonal mirrors on the Webb telescope. The pathfinder only consists of the center part of the backplane.

James Webb Space Telescope pathfinder backplane in the cleanroom

The center section of the "pathfinder" (test) backplane of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope arrived at the Goddard Space Flight Center in July 2014, to be part of a simulation of putting together vital parts of the telescope. In this photograph, the backplane is hoisted into place in the assembly stand in NASA Goddard's giant cleanroom, where over the next several months engineers and scientists will install two spare primary mirror segments and a spare secondary mirror. By installing the mirrors on the replica, technicians are able to practice this delicate procedure for when the actual flight backplane arrives. Installation of the mirrors on the backplane requires precision, so practice is important.

Click links to watch the pictures.

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Thanks for the update Julie :) it's hard waiting though... I really need to pace my excitement on these long term things :)

I really need to pace my excitement on these long term things :)

It's a good exercise for our patience Annie:) (patience=>not my strongest side....)

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Making Room for Webb's Mirrors

Engineers inside the world's largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland are working on the engineering test unit or "Pathfinder," for the James Webb Space Telescope. Webb’s Pathfinder acts as a spine supporting the telescope primary mirror segments. The Pathfinder is a non-flight prototype. To install the mirrors onto the center structure, the pathfinder must be first be over-deployed, that means engineers must secure two of the struts against the wall so they have plenty of room to work.

Click link to view the pic

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A "NIRSpec-tacular View" of NASA's Webb Telescope Instrument

A NASA photographer recently captured a "NIRSpec-tacular" photo of an instrument that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope when it launches in 2018.
Access into a clean room to get a close-up view of a complicated, high-value scientific instrument is carefully controlled, but NASA photographers get such exclusive entry all the time. Photographer Chris Gunn took this image of the NIRSpec instrument inside the giant cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Near-Infrared Spectrograph or NIRSpec is a multi-object spectrograph, which is a tool for observing many objects in the cosmos simultaneously. The NIRSpec takes in light from around 100 distant objects and records their spectra (band of colors produced when sunlight is passed through a prism), separating the light into its components using prisms and other optical devices.
The NIRSpec will join three other Webb science instruments that will be mounted on the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM). The ISIM structure is like the frame of a in a car providing support for the engine and other components.
In the photo, the NIRSpec is the large silver mass on the right-hand side. The silver frame-like object on the left side is part of the ISIM structure.

Click link to watch the photo.

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Must be pretty special cooking foil!

+1!

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NASA Engineers Conduct Low Light Test on New Technology for Webb Telescope

NASA engineers inspect a new piece of technology developed for the James Webb Space Telescope, the micro shutter array, with a low light test at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Developed at Goddard to allow Webb's Near Infrared Spectrograph to obtain spectra of more than 100 objects in the universe simultaneously, the micro shutter array uses thousands of tiny shutters to capture spectra from selected objects of interest in space and block out light from all other sources.

James Webb Space Telescope's "Mirror Mattress"

The backplane of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope looks like the springs in a mattress. In this photo, you see the central part of the three-part backplane, tilted to its side, much like a mattress being carried.
Eighteen hexagonal polished metal segments that together comprise the largest mirror on the Webb telescope will rest on the backplane.
This is the center section of the actual backplane that will fly on the Webb telescope. The backplane also has two "wings" or other sections that attach to each side. The photograph was taken at Northrop Grumman's clean room in Redondo Beach, California.
The Webb's giant mirrors will collect light from galaxies farther away and further back in time than ever seen before.

Click links to watch the photos

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