Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, reluctantly

Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by ghaff on Friday July 15, 2022 @03:41PM (#32111972)

Basically, it's the cost of designing and building a complete one-off that's going to be launched off into space, deployed, no opportunity to repair, etc. There are a million things that can go wrong. And you have one shot.

I know someone who was one of the test engineers on SDO (solar dynamics observatory) and there were all manner of concerns about this, that, and the other thing that were really hard to say were almost absolutely certainly "just fine."

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Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by throw0101a on Friday July 15, 2022 @03:55PM (#32112096)

> Basically, it's the cost of designing and building a complete one-off […]

As a simple analogy: there's a difference between going to 3-for-1 Suite Warehouse and going to Saville Row and getting something bespoke.

It's just there are no COTS satellites that do what JWST do, so if you want to do cutting edge science you're paying for Saville Row.

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Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by ghaff on Friday July 15, 2022 @04:12PM (#32112243)

Probably even worse than that. They're effectively often designing special fabrics, threads, and tools to do the sewing. Not that I have a need any longer, but custom suits in lower cost of labor areas aren't a big deal and even off-the-rack suits pretty much have to be tailored for many of us to look good.

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Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by drexlspivey on Friday July 15, 2022 @07:58PM (#32114013)

First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?

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