Hottest Questions This Month

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If we can get people to the moon and back, why are we so adamant that it's impossible to service James Webb at 4x that with a one way robotic vehicle?

modified Dec 29 '21 at 13:40 PearsonArtPhoto♦ 116k

33

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3

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Can James Webb take pictures of our solar system? In what ways will they differ from/compliment those from Hubble?

modified Dec 31 '21 at 19:03 uhoh 144k

34

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4

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Why is JWST parked in sunlight, rather than using a nuclear battery?

james-webb-telescope astronomy

answered Dec 30 '21 at 22:48 Kyle A 161

27

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3

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Is there any point in space that the James Webb Space Telescope would be unable to image?

james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 11 at 22:37 Gavin S. Yancey 516

23

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2

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Why aren't spacecraft and spacesuits pressurised to 2.5 psi (17 kPa) of pure oxygen?

crewed-spaceflight spacesuits oxygen pressure

modified Jan 13 at 16:56 Woody 4,909

45

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2

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Why did the JWST solar array deploy early?

james-webb-telescope launch-sequence

modified Dec 30 '21 at 7:25 Petr Shlyaev 51

16

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2

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If the James Webb Space Telescope explodes, is there a backup?

james-webb-telescope

modified Dec 25 '21 at 17:09 LoremIpsum 103

19

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5

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Why is the speed of James Webb Space Telescope decreasing?

james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 10 at 5:33 Fred 9,790

18

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3

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If one Starship can transport 100 people to Mars, how many could it safely land near Mercury's north pole after one Hohmann-like transfer?

orbital-mechanics spacex-starship hohmann-transfer mercury

modified 10 hours ago Cornelis 6,566

14

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2

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3k

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Did any Columbia debris continue orbiting Earth?

space-shuttle reentry debris shuttle-columbia

modified Jan 10 at 19:33 Machavity 5,611

20

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Elon Musk's ITS Travel Time to Mars Estimate

mars interplanetary travel its

modified Jan 4 at 1:52 BrendanLuke15 4,725

11

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3

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2k

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Docking in space

apollo-program docking mechanisms

answered Jan 10 at 15:05 Innovine 4,356

20

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1

answer

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James Webb orbit insertion

orbital-mechanics orbital-maneuver james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 12 at 22:57 Peter Mortensen 301

17

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2

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Why is JWST Launching from French Guiana?

launch nasa orbit esa james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 10 at 19:40 PearsonArtPhoto♦ 116k

11

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2

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4k

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Why is the James Webb Space Telescope temperature not shown?

temperature james-webb-telescope

modified Dec 30 '21 at 9:56 DrMcCleod 548

12

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2

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2k

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By when can we pass by Voyager 1?

voyager solar-system

modified Jan 1 at 0:07 Andrew 6,656

10

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4

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741

views

Why are uncertainties of orbital state vectors provided as covariance matrixes?

astrodynamics

modified 2 days ago Rafa 680

11

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2

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1k

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What are the benefits of supersynchronous transfer orbits?

orbital-mechanics orbital-maneuver delta-v geosynchronous supersynchronous

modified Jan 11 at 22:01 BrendanLuke15 4,725

17

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1

answer

1k

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Could fuel cells of the Space Shuttles have been restarted in the case of a total power failure?

space-shuttle fuel-cell

modified yesterday CommunityBot 1

13

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3

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975

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A way to overcome fuel limits on JWST and its operational lifetime; "clip-on" propulsion systems in development that might work in the future?

nasa spacecraft design-alternative james-webb-telescope

modified yesterday blobbymcblobby 2,909

8

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2

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2k

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What are and could be all the advantages and disadvantages to have a crewed station on Phobos before landing crewed missions on Mars?

mars future-missions phobos

modified Dec 21 '21 at 13:18 Armadillo 826

13

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2

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2k

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Where did AS-206 go between 1967 and 1973?

apollo-program history saturn-i

answered Dec 21 '21 at 23:07 Organic Marble 151k

14

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Would a sufficiently deep cavern on Mars provide habitable temperature and atmospheric pressure? Was Dick Tracy wrong?

mars atmosphere mining habitat isru

modified Jan 12 at 12:14 Cornelis 6,566

12

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1

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1k

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Why did a solar eclipse of the sun as seen from Apollo 11 appear to have an elliptical corona?

the-moon apollo-program apollo-11 solar-eclipse

modified Jan 13 at 17:26 BrendanLuke15 4,725

8

votes

2

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701

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Why is this Planet Labs video wobbly?

artificial-satellite photography reconnaissance-satellite

answered 13 hours ago David Hammen 57.8k

8

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2

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800

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How long would it have taken to launch an Apollo contingency flight?

the-moon apollo-program lander

modified yesterday Uwe 43.7k

15

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1

answer

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What does the ATOLL programming language look like?

apollo-program history saturn-v testing saturn-i

modified Dec 22 '21 at 18:23 Jon Custer 698

8

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1

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772

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Would it be feasible to decelerate a crewed vehicle from ~25 km/s only using the atmosphere of Mars (in the context of an "express transit")?

mars crewed-spaceflight reentry aerobraking

modified Dec 29 '21 at 17:01 CuteKItty_pleaseStopBArking 1

11

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1

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Why are the JWST A3 and A6 position sensors different from all the others?

james-webb-telescope sensors

modified 2 days ago Organic Marble 151k

9

votes

2

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776

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When and why did three-axis stabilization become prominent in geostationary satellites?

artificial-satellite geostationary spaceflight-firsts spin-stabilisation

modified 6 hours ago BrendanLuke15 4,725

5

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1

answer

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Is L2 at a distance where the Earth totally eclipses the Sun?

orbit lagrangian-points

modified Dec 26 '21 at 16:45 BrendanLuke15 4,725

6

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2

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644

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Are In-Flight Electrically Heated Steam Rockets Possible?

rockets engines design-alternative

answered 2 days ago Acccumulation 537

6

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2

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781

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Which direction/constellation is the James Webb is headed towards

james-webb-telescope

modified Dec 28 '21 at 23:29 nealmcb 589

9

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1

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853

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Did JWST launch directly into an earth escape trajectory?

orbit james-webb-telescope

answered Dec 26 '21 at 23:01 BrendanLuke15 4,725

5

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2

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312

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Required Orbital Components to Fully Define Orbit

orbital-elements

modified Dec 28 '21 at 21:51 BMF 701

6

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2

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397

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Why does light from 180M years cosmic time take 13.6B years to reach us? [closed]

james-webb-telescope

answered Jan 9 at 14:01 Uwe 43.7k

7

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1

answer

1k

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Is there a low Earth orbit with a 24-hour day night cycle?

orbital-mechanics low-earth-orbit orbital-elements earth sun-synchronous

modified Dec 21 '21 at 15:26 Anton Hengst 9,009

6

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2

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659

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Why are the JWST secondary mirror support booms not painted black?

james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 6 at 3:31 Woody 4,909

3

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1

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367

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When calculating the six Keplerian Orbital Parameters, why do we need both Eccentricity AND the Semi-Major Axis? Doesn't one tell you the other?

orbital-mechanics orbit gravity orbital-elements

modified Jan 1 at 15:59 notovny 3,754

15

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3

answers

457

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Does James Webb have any protection against meteoroids/space debris?

debris james-webb-telescope

answered Jan 12 at 9:45 blobbymcblobby 2,909

12

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1

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527

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Why does the optical design of the Webb mirror have three different types of panel?

james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 2 at 7:07 Giacomo1968 141

12

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1

answer

652

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Could JWST operate with failed or partial wing mirror deployment?

space-telescope james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 7 at 13:25 blobbymcblobby 2,909

6

votes

3

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319

views

Obtaining orbital state vectors given two position vectors and an eccentricity

orbital-mechanics orbital-elements

modified Jan 5 at 17:43 frank 61

6

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1

answer

803

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World's most expensive space cookie? (What am I looking at, object identification, rivets and all)

iss astronaut-lifestyle food reduced-gravity-cooking nanoracks

modified Dec 27 '21 at 11:51 CuteKItty_pleaseStopBArking 1

8

votes

1

answer

621

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How will JWST extract the infrared signal from the desired early sources from all the other infrared it will see?

james-webb-telescope noise infrared

modified Dec 23 '21 at 6:36 Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen 103

5

votes

1

answer

981

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Are they already planning a successor to the JWST?

space-telescope james-webb-telescope future-missions

modified Dec 28 '21 at 1:56 2012rcampion 2,461

7

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1

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371

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What are the characteristics of JWST's orbit around L2?

lagrangian-points james-webb-telescope

modified Jan 9 at 0:17 Woody 4,909

5

votes

1

answer

262

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Help me understand these tweeted images of JWST moving through Orion!

photography imaging james-webb-telescope image-processing

modified Dec 31 '21 at 7:35 uhoh 144k

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