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

Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by WalterBright on Friday July 15, 2022 @05:01PM (#32112775)

Consider the cost of designing the mirrors, designing a machine to grind the mirrors, testing the machine, and verifying the grind of the mirrors.

All that adds to the cost of the first mirror, and adds $0 to the second.

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Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by zabzonk on Saturday July 16, 2022 @02:14AM (#32115662)

But the grinding machine costs (which is significant if you have 10 of them) and the grinding process takes a lot of time and cost (if you have 1 machine x 10 mirrors).

I don't think these NASA/JPL guys are quite as dim as you seem to suggest (but you have more info) and they may have done a little cost/benefit analysis before embarking on the project.

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Re:Greg Robinson fixed NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, re... by WalterBright on Saturday July 16, 2022 @02:09PM (#32120448)

From their statements, no, I don't think any cost/benefits of making a twin were done. In particular, none of the respondents wrote anything about what the cost of R+D was relative to the manufacturing cost.

BTW, I am not suggesting they are dim. But one can be the finest physicist in the world and not be familiar with cost accounting and manufacturing.

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