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Re:Who Would Kidnap a Space Telescope? by asmithmd1 on Friday August 27, 2021 @09:37AM (#28327636)
I don't think there is any need to encrypt traffic coming from the telescope. One of the (many) compromises in the design is using 26Ghz radios that will be so low power that the only way to downlink data is using the huge Deep Space Network.

So many design compromises were forced by not putting nuclear power on the telescope. I really hope it works, but I think the odds of getting much useful science from it slim.

Re:Who Would Kidnap a Space Telescope? by koheripbal on Friday August 27, 2021 @12:47PM (#28330047)
Why not include nuclear power on the telescope?

Would it cause interference?

Re:Who Would Kidnap a Space Telescope? by dredmorbius on Friday August 27, 2021 @01:37PM (#28330735)
Almost certainly, yes, it would interfer with the thermal imaging of the scope.

Not my domain, so speculating:

Space-based nuclear power is virtually always a radioisotopic thermoelectric generator (RTG), which works by utilising the heat of radioactive decay from plutonium, in the form of plutonium oxide.

Since the generation mechanism is thermal, the RTG reaches high temperatures (500C, 900F).

The Webb telescope is an infrared telescope, sensing electromatic radiation in the range emitted by warm objects. The telescope itself is cryogenically cooled to 50K (-223C, -369F), and carefully shielded from the Sun by a large (though lightweight and delicate) shade.

Even electrically-powered systems on the cold side of the telescope are designed for the lowest possible power consumption to minimise heating. The instrument package draws 11 milliwatts of power. That's 1 calorie every 6 minutes 20 seconds --- it would take 6.33 minutes to raise 1 ml of water 1 degree Celsius. You burn about 10 calories (10 kilocalories or "dietary calories") in the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope

TL;DR: thermal generation on an instrument which must be maintained at an extremely cold temperature is a hard engineering problem.

Re:Who Would Kidnap a Space Telescope? by mannykannot on Friday August 27, 2021 @10:04AM (#28327923)
I share your hopes, but I fear the second system effect.