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Hopefully next iteration will have multiple mirrors built in as a backup. At least one round behind each visible mirror, and then release broken one, let it fly
by joering2 4y ago
Hopefully next iteration will have multiple mirrors built in as a backup. At least one round behind each visible mirror, and then release broken one, let it fly away, and push the new one out, call it "shark teeth lensing replacement system / STLRS".
- XorNot 4y agoNext iterations will be very different since SLS and hopefully Starship will exist and be able to be used to launch: JWST was built the way it was partly because it had to fit in the launch vehicle they knew was available. There's a future where we never do anything like it again because reusable rockets mean multiple launch orbital assembly is just plain cheaper.
- jacquesm 4y agoChances are that a broken segment flying away will do massive damage to the telescope.
- airstrike 4y agoNot if we zap it with an antimatter ray as it flies away
- jacquesm 4y agoWhen I got up this morning I felt like I had overslept but not by that much.
- dev_tty01 4y agoIt just needs a tiny bit of acceleration in the right direction as it is released. It would then just drift away. That is just clever mechanical design and similar things have been done in other craft.
- jacquesm 4y agoHave a look at the structure of the JWST, I don't see many 'safe paths' that would work regardless of orientation. Those segments are pretty much bound to hit each other if you eject them at an angle (they are quite thick) and that would make them aimed straight for the focal point. At a guess: all such theories have been debated and rejected by the people that built then thing in the first place.