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James Webb Space Telescope Sustained Micrometeoroid Impact to Mirror
- timeisapear 4y agoTLDR: We knew micrometeorites would happen, just not one this big so soon. We've corrected four small ones already. We barely got away with correcting this one, because luckily there is a large performance margin built into the image gathering pipeline. We're studying how many more big whoopsies might occur and what effect that might have on the telescope's future. I wonder if having an impact that was larger than modeled so early on in JWST's mission is a foreboding sign for its lifespan.
- ipspam 4y agoI wonder as well.... 10 billion is pocket change. Should have built 2.
- breadloaf 4y agoAfter everything went so smoothly, it will be micrometeorites which will grind the whole mission into a dust. That's sad and also shows why Earth bound observatories are still irreplicable and can't be just swapped for space telescopes as some eccentric billionaire proposed in the past.
- sohkamyung 4y agoData from the impact (and future ones) will be put to good use: > Over time, the team will collect invaluable data and work with micrometeoroid prediction experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to be able to better predict how performance may change, bearing in mind that the telescope’s initial performance is better than expected. Webb’s tremendous size and sensitivity make it a highly sensitive detector of micrometeorites; over time Webb will help improve knowledge of the solar system dust particle environment at L2, for this and future missions."