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I think you're extremely optimistic with that cost estimate. The total cost of the James Webb space telescope will likely end up around $10B... and that's a 6m
by lutorm 12y ago
I think you're extremely optimistic with that cost estimate. The total cost of the James Webb space telescope will likely end up around $10B... and that's a 6m or something infrared imager in LEO.
For a space-based interferometer mission, eLISA is a non-optical interferometer (for gravitatinal waves) with 1e6 km arms with a budgeted cost of 1.3B Euro. An interferometer needs to control spacing by a fraction of a wavelength, but for gravitational waves that's like 1e9 m. Optical light is 1e-7m. That's 18 orders of magnitude higher precision over a proposed 3 orders of magnitude larger baseline.
I think it's fair to say the cost of such a mission would be "out of this world", because we have no idea how to build it, and it's not the launch cost to LEO that's the problem.
- skrause 12y ago> and that's a 6m or something infrared imager in LEO. James Webb Space Telescope won't be in LEO, they'll fly it to the L2 Lagrange point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope#Orbit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope#Orbi...
- lutorm 12y agoOh, you're right. My bad.
- mturmon 12y agoThe hard technology in JWST had to do with the cryocooler, which was needed to cool the infrared detectors to just a few degrees Kelvin. (Of course IR is the whole point of the mission.). The cryocooler was unique in several ways, including sheer size and a complex routing throughout the spacecraft bus. There is no basis to compare the hard technology in JWST to the hard technology in a space interferometer. They are two very different beasts.
- jessriedel 12y ago> For a space-based interferometer mission, eLISA is a non-optical interferometer (for gravitatinal waves) with 1e6 km arms with a budgeted cost of 1.3B Euro. An interferometer needs to control spacing by a fraction of a wavelength, but for gravitational waves that's like 1e9 m. Optical light is 1e-7m Could explain what you're saying here better? The LISA satellites will making measurements of changes in the million km distances between each other to an accuracy below 20 picometers.