Re:James Webb is fully deployed
by dotnet00 on Sunday January 09, 2022 @12:33AM
(#29860500)
Given that SpaceX is hoping to start initial Mars missions by the 2030s and JWST is expected to last much longer than 10 years due to fuel savings on the L2 injection burn, it wouldn't be too outlandish for a servicing mission to be attempted by then, a vehicle capable of the 3-6 month trip to Mars is obviously capable of a 2 week trip to L2 and back.
On the other hand, with how delicate the optics and sunshield are, a servicing mission might not be worth it. At that point NASA might find it more productive to build a larger telescope, except this time it could again be designed to be manually deployed and serviced, thus not needing the complex automated deployment that delayed the JWST so much.
On the other hand, with how delicate the optics and sunshield are, a servicing mission might not be worth it. At that point NASA might find it more productive to build a larger telescope, except this time it could again be designed to be manually deployed and serviced, thus not needing the complex automated deployment that delayed the JWST so much.