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Webb Sees Its First Star
- guenthert 5y ago"This “selfie” was created using a specialized pupil imaging lens inside of the NIRCam instrument that was designed to take images of the primary mirror segments instead of images of space. This configuration is not used during scientific operations and is used strictly for engineering and alignment purposes." So they weren't telling the whole truth when they stated that JWST didn't carry any cameras to monitor deployment. Good on them for finding a creative solution.
- roughly 5y agoMan, this is such an incredible feat of engineering. I’ve been building systems for a long time, but if you gave me the constraints for this one (we’re shooting it into space, flying it a million miles away, and oh by the way the optics need to be perfect when it gets there, and then we’re gonna use it for a couple decades), I’d laugh you out of the room, not because I think you’re wrong, but because my faith in ANY system working that long is nil - and these crazy bastards actually Did it. These are the kinds of things that make me want to remove “engineer” from my job title - there are levels to this stuff, and Webb makes me feel like a kid building sand castles.