The world’s most powerful telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, will be launched in October of 2018. In addition to searching the skies for new planets and perhaps other forms of life, it will also be studying some of the oldest objects in the universe, helping us better understand how our galaxy came to be. If everything goes according to plan, scientists will have access to this information for decades to come. However, NASA has admitted that their backup methods might fail, leaving data lost forever.
What is the JWST?
The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, is a joint project between NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency), and CSA (the Canadian Space Agency). It’s slated to be launched in 2018 and will become one of the most powerful space telescopes ever made. The observatory will have a 6.5-meter primary mirror and is designed to operate for at least 5 years. Why is it so important?: Since its inception, NASA has been focused on exploring our solar system and beyond. The James Webb telescope will allow astronomers to see deeper into space than ever before and study some of the earliest galaxies that formed after our universe began 13.8 billion years ago. Scientists hope it will help them answer some of life’s biggest questions: How did we get here? Is there other intelligent life out there? What are stars made of? And what happened immediately after Big Bang?
What Does Worry NASA?
NASA officials said that a problem was discovered in 2012 with one of two onboard computers on the spacecraft. While engineers were working on fixing it, they found an issue with another computer and began addressing that problem. What we have is two independent issues that have arisen in flight hardware, John Mather, senior project scientist for JWST at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said during a press conference today. It’s not like you can just go down to your local store and buy a new piece of equipment. We are trying to understand what has happened here so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again. The space agency is worried that data from its $8 billion telescope will be lost if something isn’t done soon. That would mean scientists wouldn’t get to see all of their hard work come together. We want to do everything we possibly can so that when we turn it on, there won’t be any question about whether or not it worked right away, Mather said. If that means delaying launch, we’ll delay launch. If it means taking more time to fix these problems, then we will take more time to fix these problems.
What has been done so far?
The James Webb telescope, scheduled to be launched in 2019, has a $8.8-billion price tag and is hailed as one of NASA’s most ambitious projects ever. The primary focus of its mission is to peer at exoplanets that could potentially support life—but it will also be used for other research purposes. Specifically, scientists are planning on using it to measure light from distant galaxies and black holes. In order to do so, however, they need to test how well their data transfer system works; if it doesn’t work properly, there may not be enough time left before launch to make changes. As such, they plan on sending dummy data through it first. If everything goes according to plan, then real data can be sent through without any issues. And if something does go wrong? There won’t be much anyone can do about it. It takes eight minutes for radio signals to travel back and forth between Earth and the telescope, meaning that engineers won’t have any idea what is going wrong until eight minutes after it happens. At that point, it would likely take two years or more to fix things…which means all of their data would be lost forever.
What is being done to fix it?
Currently, there are a number of efforts underway to correct JWST’s optics—including using a physical model of JWST in Chamber A of NASA’s Space Power Facility (SPF) at Marshall Space Flight Center. The SPF provides an environment that simulates space vacuum and extreme heat. Engineers create a near-vacuum by pumping out nearly all of the air in Chamber A, then heating it with massive heat lamps. This allows them to test instruments like those found on JWST. It also gives them a chance to rehearse procedures for fixing problems on actual hardware. For example, if one of JWST’s 18 primary mirror segments is damaged during launch, engineers will practice removing and replacing it without damaging other parts of the telescope. To date, they have used Chamber A to inspect three mirrors from flight units of Hubble and recently inspected a spare segment for JWST. They have also used it to test a number of components from JWST, including its deployable sunshield membrane. The next step: After additional testing and analysis in early 2018, NASA expects to determine whether or not Hubble can be recomissioned for use as a backup plan should any issues arise with JWST before or after launch.
What will happen if there are no solutions?
It turns out that if NASA loses data from its telescopes, it can’t just order a new one and collect more information. According to NASA, most of its missions last only one or two years, so they don’t have time to design new telescopes in between launches. That makes each launch really important—and it also means that any data loss could be very costly for researchers. There is no Plan B, said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at a meeting on Tuesday. We do not want to wake up five years from now and realize we lost all that science. It would take an estimated $800 million and 10 years to build another telescope like JWST, according to The Washington Post. And as complicated as that sounds, it doesn’t even account for how much work scientists will lose by losing their precious data. Plus there are always unforeseen costs when building a telescope like JWST: There are always some things you didn’t think about until you actually start building something.
