Oops!
Does everyone know that when the Hubble telescope was sent into space, it had a defective primary mirror
that the contractor (Perkin-Elmer Corporation) knowingly supplied, and fraudulently certified was operating properly?
Fortunately the fault that caused terrible spherical aberration was able to be adequately corrected
with a special lens assembly, although for another billion dollars in a rescue mission 3 years later.
Does everyone know that when the Hubble telescope was sent into space, it had a defective primary mirror
that the contractor (Perkin-Elmer Corporation) knowingly supplied, and fraudulently certified was operating properly?
Fortunately the fault that caused terrible spherical aberration was able to be adequately corrected
with a special lens assembly, although for another billion dollars in a rescue mission 3 years later.
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At the time I clearly recall that the test was said to be faked by deleting the outer radius of the
Foucault test photo. This is not in the info currently available though. I remember this specifically
because I was involved in amateur astronomy at the time and had been doing Foucault testing myself.
Either the info was wrong, which I doubt, or it was suppressed. BTW, the backup primary mirror,
made by Eastman Kodak and Corning, was perfect and sitting in a warehouse. In any event, PE
knew something was wrong, as they did two different tests, which disagreed with each other.
Foucault test photo. This is not in the info currently available though. I remember this specifically
because I was involved in amateur astronomy at the time and had been doing Foucault testing myself.
Either the info was wrong, which I doubt, or it was suppressed. BTW, the backup primary mirror,
made by Eastman Kodak and Corning, was perfect and sitting in a warehouse. In any event, PE
knew something was wrong, as they did two different tests, which disagreed with each other.
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This really isn't true. Mistakes were made but there was no suspicion or accusation of fraud that I'm aware of.
https://www.newscientist.com/articl...sting-error-that-led-to-hubble-mirror-fiasco/
infrared too 😉
there’s a dashboard with the trip data on a webpage - you can watch the miles in real-time.
No rescue / repair mission possible at L2 1 million miles out, so let’s hope the most expensive piece of origami (so far) unfolds as designed, and maybe with luck will last as long as Hubble - 30+ yrs now😵
Next up LUVOIR, and even wilder ideas?
Next up LUVOIR, and even wilder ideas?
It probably won't, Hubble has been fixed several times. Much harder for the Webb scope. However, it can be refueled by robots, if someone cares to send fuel out that far.
Not this week anyway. And by the time they turn Psyche into a space habitat it will long be obsolete.
dave
They estimte 10 years of fuel at the moment. By tha time launches will be from the moon or high earth orbit.
dave
I believe that is a false accusation. It was a mistake in manufacturing and test design, not fraud.
The Kapton foil layers used to get the temps down for the mirror side seem to be huge targets
just waiting for space debri to poke holes thru all layers
just waiting for space debri to poke holes thru all layers
Because Lagrange point L2 (where the JWST will be situated) is unstable, debris does not tend to become trapped there.
Debris moves away from L2, and the JWST itself will have to do some work to stay there - courtesy of its onboard thrusters.
Debris moves away from L2, and the JWST itself will have to do some work to stay there - courtesy of its onboard thrusters.
Latest news is thE origami is unfolding nominally, and that well over 10yrs of operational life may be possible. Hope I’m still around to appreciate the results.
I'm hopeful of holding out for at least another 6 months, when "routine science operations" are scheduled to commence!
Make you wonder what will be the first image they release to the public. The team will want something visually stunning, and maybe a handful of "this is really old, really far away" images. A lot of thought and planning must be going into what to first release for PR.
Very happy to see that all is going well so far.
Very happy to see that all is going well so far.