James Webb Space Telescope launch delayed, waiting for "event" review – Astronomy

2021-11-25 09:36:59 By : Mr. Hesong Chen

NASA delayed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope for at least four days, from December 18 to at least December 22, because a high-pressure "entrainment" designed to help secure the telescope to the upper stage of the Ariane 5 rocket suddenly The release occurred, giving the expensive observatory an unexpected shock.

This incident occurred during the pre-flight processing at the Ariane 5 launch site in Kuru, French Guiana on November 9th, but it was not until November 22 that NASA announced the postponement of the launch in a blog post. Mention this setback.

"The technicians are preparing to connect Weber to the launch vehicle adapter, which will be used to integrate the observatory with the upper level of the Ariane 5 rocket," NASA said. "The entrainment that fastened Weber to the launch vehicle adapter was suddenly and accidentally released, causing the entire observatory to vibrate."

The agency stated that an "anomaly review committee" has been established to evaluate the incident, find out what caused the entrainment to loosen, and determine whether any mechanism or subsystem of the observatory may have been damaged or deviated from precise alignment. Required for smooth operation.

NASA Science Director Thomas Zurbuchen told reporters at an unrelated press conference: "The entrainment has fallen off and then fell off, but the entrainment is not designed to fall off." "This is an anomaly, of course, when you are in a When working on a $10 billion telescope, conservatism is a top priority."

Zurbuchen said that engineers are evaluating "a few subsystems" and planning functional tests, "just to make sure nothing has happened."

"So this is what we are doing, which is why we only need a few more days," he said. "We have always said that when we are fully prepared, we will launch this telescope....I hope we will be in good condition in just a few days."

The goal of NASA and ESA is to launch the long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope on December 18.

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