James Webb Space Telescope (successor to Hubble) gets launched on Christmas Eve

[Blackhawk]

07.20am EST is the exact time. That's the time in for example New York.

I'm gonna follow the livestreams when it gets launched.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Blackhawk]

JWST is the most expensive piece of equipment ever sent to space.

The Hubble Space Telescope got launched 31 years ago.

So you will maybe be dead when the successor to JWST gets launched. So this is maybe a once in a lifetime thing for you. Or twice if you count in Hubble... You get the point.

So yeah, this is a big deal.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Blackhawk]

15 minutes ago, Knowledge Hoarder said:

I'm more interested in the pictures from the telescope, and maybe new surprising discoveries.

The telescope is extremely complex, most complex ever. During 2 weeks it will do a huge amount of things, and any of them can go wrong. For example deployment of solar array, deployment of sun shield pallets, unfolding of sunshield, separation of sunshield insulation layers, deployment of secondary mirror, deployment of primary mirror, etc. etc. There's a billion things which could go wrong.

If anything goes wrong it wont be possible to repair it. It would be one the biggest and most expensive disasters ever. So much at stake.

Will I even dare to follow the livestreams..

[Leo Gura]

Let's hope it all works out.

[Blackhawk]

Delayed to december 25 7:20 am EST due to bad weather.

[Loba]

 

4:20 am PST - 7:20 A.M. EST - you can watch it launch here; probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch this, and on Christmas day no doubt.  
I have my alarm set and ready!  Happy Holidays!

[Blackhawk]

6 hours ago, Loba said:

 

4:20 am PST - 7:20 A.M. EST - you can watch it launch here; probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch this, and on Christmas day no doubt.  
I have my alarm set and ready!  Happy Holidays!

Yeah.

Note that they start broadcasting stuff in that livestream earlier than 7:20 am EST (which is lift off). I don't know exactly when, but it's at least over an hour before.

Edited December 25, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Blackhawk]

No need to be nervous.. It's just our knowledge and understanding of the universe at stake, hehe.

[Loba]

@Blackhawk I have my alarm set for four PST, but it starts at 3 am here...

Super nervous!  I hope everything goes well.

[Blackhawk]

Live coverage is on now:

 

[Blackhawk]

This is probably more important than the moonlandings. Because we get more information (and more important information) from the JWST than from some people walking on the moon.

[Loba]

@Blackhawk Right??!!  I'm so excited for this, this is going to be amazing.  If everything works out well then we will learn SO much about the universe.  This is such a wonderful holiday present.

[Blackhawk]

8 minutes ago, Loba said:

@Blackhawk Right??!!  I'm so excited for this, this is going to be amazing.  If everything works out well then we will learn SO much about the universe.  This is such a wonderful holiday present.

Yes

[Loba]

@Blackhawk here we goooo!  Countdown!!!

[Blackhawk]

So far so good.

NASAs livestream is over now, so I'm currently watching this livestream instead (just people talking): https://youtu.be/pVKzZ89N2Ks

[Leo Gura]

This thing took 40 million man-hours to build! Astounding.

[Blackhawk]

Latest updates: https://www.nasa.gov/content/live-coverage-of-the-james-webb-space-telescope-mission

Detailed real-time status and info about the deployments etc.: https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

Press briefing comes in 8 minutes. And I'm sure more press briefings and stuff will come also later: 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Blackhawk

[DnoReally]

14 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

This thing took 40 million man-hours to build! Astounding.

Humanity did alright for a couple of paleolithic goofballs

[MaxV]

I am so happy it turned out pretty much flawless! I'm deeply moved by the fact that, if we just coorporate with eachother we are capable of somany great things! 

I'm looking forward to the next stages of this endeavour. 

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

This thing took 40 million man-hours to build! Astounding.

And yet... you can see deeper into the universe within 15 minutes with 5-MeO-MALT.

40 million man-months and yet science remains blind.

Hint: you're looking in the opposite direction