5 ms·

I was so convinced, after all the delays, the cost overruns and the general bureaucracy surrounding the whole project, that it would fail miserably. I'm so hap

by jylam 4y ago

I was so convinced, after all the delays, the cost overruns and the general bureaucracy surrounding the whole project, that it would fail miserably. I'm so happy it seems to go flawlessly since its (perfect) launch.

ResNet 4y ago
Same here, the relief I felt when it completed the riskiest unfolding steps was huge. I'm so excited to see the results it provides.
CogitoCogito 4y ago
This was an interesting article along those lines: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/whats-left-for-the-webb-telescope-now-waggling-mirrors-turning-on-instruments/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/whats-left-for-the-w...
gameswithgo 4y ago
The two most recent large US mars rovers, and James Webb all seemed way too complex to ever work. All 3 worked! Shows what I know.
- jrootabega 4y ago
  We're all still traumatized by the meters/feet problem. Oops, I mean the Newtons/pounds problem.
- pkaye 4y ago
  Unfortunately small problems can still happen. The recent Lucy mission to the Jupiter asteroid belt had a problem with one of the solar panels not properly unfolding. However they feel the remaining panel has sufficient power to complete the mission.
- lisper 4y ago
  It’s not just you. I worked at JPL for twelve years and I expected it to fail too. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to be wrong about this.
  - mstipetic 4y ago
    Why did you expect it to fail? You have some inside info about the problems they were facing?
    - lisper 4y ago
      No specific inside info. But seeing how the sausage is made makes it amazing that anything they do works at all, let alone that it so often works as well as it does. I was particularly primed to expect JWST to fail because I lived through the Galileo antenna failure and the Hubble mirror fiasco.
digbybk 4y ago
The delays, the cost overruns and the general bureaucracy surrounding the whole project are likely the reasons why it _didn't_ fail miserably. It's definitely not a situation where you want to move fast and break things.
- formerly_proven 4y ago
  Projects that push aside the envelope of what was previously possible and reach entirely new levels of performance tend to have not that predictable schedules and costs. I'm pretty sure the planners involved know that, but on the political level fixed ranges and estimates are required to get funding - so you get cost overruns and delays.
  - HPsquared 4y ago
    Also, they probably wouldn't have gotten funding at the start if they said it'd take 25 years and 10 billion. Starting with a low-ball and gradually ramping up has a greater probability of (funding) success.
    - lisper 4y ago
      And the fact that everyone knows this leads to some interesting game theory.
  - perardi 4y ago
    Every HN thread brings up the cost overruns, and I just…OK, smart guy, you come up with a reasonable estimate of shooting a telescope into a very distant orbit and then cooling it to 12 degrees above absolute zero.
    - smcnally 4y ago
      To <7 degrees! > … down to its final operating temperature of less than 7 kelvins
      - 4y ago
tomrod 4y ago
I hope to learn the stories of the people who made it work, despite the cost overruns and bureaucracy!
Tozen 4y ago
Agreed. I was thinking this thing would be a bust or expecting some type of catastrophe, so nice to see none of that happened. This has undoubtedly exceeded the expectations of many.

by jylam 4y ago

ResNet 4y ago

Same here, the relief I felt when it completed the riskiest unfolding steps was huge. I'm so excited to see the results it provides.

CogitoCogito 4y ago

This was an interesting article along those lines: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/whats-left-for-the-webb-telescope-now-waggling-mirrors-turning-on-instruments/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/01/whats-left-for-the-w...

gameswithgo 4y ago

The two most recent large US mars rovers, and James Webb all seemed way too complex to ever work. All 3 worked! Shows what I know.

jrootabega 4y ago
We're all still traumatized by the meters/feet problem. Oops, I mean the Newtons/pounds problem.
pkaye 4y ago
Unfortunately small problems can still happen. The recent Lucy mission to the Jupiter asteroid belt had a problem with one of the solar panels not properly unfolding. However they feel the remaining panel has sufficient power to complete the mission.
lisper 4y ago
It’s not just you. I worked at JPL for twelve years and I expected it to fail too. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to be wrong about this.
- mstipetic 4y ago
  Why did you expect it to fail? You have some inside info about the problems they were facing?
  - lisper 4y ago
    No specific inside info. But seeing how the sausage is made makes it amazing that anything they do works at all, let alone that it so often works as well as it does. I was particularly primed to expect JWST to fail because I lived through the Galileo antenna failure and the Hubble mirror fiasco.

digbybk 4y ago

The delays, the cost overruns and the general bureaucracy surrounding the whole project are likely the reasons why it _didn't_ fail miserably. It's definitely not a situation where you want to move fast and break things.

formerly_proven 4y ago
Projects that push aside the envelope of what was previously possible and reach entirely new levels of performance tend to have not that predictable schedules and costs. I'm pretty sure the planners involved know that, but on the political level fixed ranges and estimates are required to get funding - so you get cost overruns and delays.
- HPsquared 4y ago
  Also, they probably wouldn't have gotten funding at the start if they said it'd take 25 years and 10 billion. Starting with a low-ball and gradually ramping up has a greater probability of (funding) success.
  - lisper 4y ago
    And the fact that everyone knows this leads to some interesting game theory.
- perardi 4y ago
  Every HN thread brings up the cost overruns, and I just…OK, smart guy, you come up with a reasonable estimate of shooting a telescope into a very distant orbit and then cooling it to 12 degrees above absolute zero.
  - smcnally 4y ago
    To <7 degrees! > … down to its final operating temperature of less than 7 kelvins
    - 4y ago

tomrod 4y ago

I hope to learn the stories of the people who made it work, despite the cost overruns and bureaucracy!

Tozen 4y ago

Agreed. I was thinking this thing would be a bust or expecting some type of catastrophe, so nice to see none of that happened. This has undoubtedly exceeded the expectations of many.