3 ms·
The supply of coolant is finite. At the time of mission planning there was no spaceship capable of resupplying at the Lagrange point. As I understand it the coo
by danny_codes 4y ago
The supply of coolant is finite. At the time of mission planning there was no spaceship capable of resupplying at the Lagrange point. As I understand it the coolant onbaord is good for 10 years.
However, if starship is successful that situation will change and resupply becomes possible. So I suppose we'll see.
- OrvalWintermute 4y agoNASA is already doing resupply missions to easily-accessible orbits [1] and they have previous spin-offs less customized to repair/replace but capable nonetheless e.g. X-37/X-40 It is fully within the realm of possibility that a future OSAM mission will be capable of hitting far more distant points, since the Lunar stuff is just starting to heat up. [1] https://nexis.gsfc.nasa.gov/osam-1.html https://nexis.gsfc.nasa.gov/osam-1.html
- outworlder 4y agoJWST is limited by fuel, not by the cryocooler. Helium is not a consumable, although some level of leakage may occur. But only one of its instruments requires it.
- dmix 4y agoI'm guessing they didn't make it refuelable by automation, so it requires a human or custom robotics to refuel?