/sci/ - Science & Math

>>11443238
>Space
Not science or math

>>11443238
As of June 29th 2018, it's March 30th 2021. As of last month it's still March 30th 2021. The Government Accountability Office(GAO) thinks it will actually launch sometime in July 2021. Heard from some people working on it that congress won't be able to cancel it if they get it to Kourou.

>>11443238
March next year, but it'll probably be delayed.

I'm impressed the technology is still relevant from then. It'll be a real shame if it RUDs.

What is it launching on SLS?

>>11443362
>What is it launching on SLS?
Ariane 5, which is incredibly reliable. So if anything goes wrong, then it'll be with the telescope.

>>11443323
More updates: as of Jan 22, they completed folding the sunshield back in after a successful test. Next they are going to do some electrical tests, shake the crap out of it to simulate launch, and then see if it deploys. If it passes the electronics tests and deployment tests they're going to fold it back up and ship it out. One sad thing is that NASA doesn't have a big enough vacuum chamber to test complete deployment of the JWST. So they have to go through some crazy subsystem testing. So why not build a bigger one? Well big cryogenic vacuum chambers are hugely expensive to build and maintain, so NASA isn't building new ones, they're just restoring the ones left over from the space race. Our infrastructure is rotting.

>>11443238
At which point do the instruments get so outdated they really should redo the payload? After 25 yeas tech has advanced enormously.