Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

[Kepler]

Here is the James Webb mission home page.

Who was James Webb?

And something to be angry about because what is life without that?

[MichVandal]

There are 3 answers on the interwebs, FWIW.

1. Closer to the equator so can piggy back on faster rotation speed.

2. Politics: throw a bone to the EU contribution.

3. Ariane launch vehicle and space port are best choice for James Webb configuration.

One thing I also saw was that the rocket used is the only one currently being used that is capable- which is an ESA system.

[MichVandal]

Here is the James Webb mission home page.

Who was James Webb?

And something to be angry about because what is life without that?

Ok, they may have a point.

But the worst part about naming it JW is that he's just an administrator. Hubble was an actual scientist. I'm ok with naming destructive things like military stuff after administrators (nothing better for a legacy that your name is associated with something so deadly), but discovery things- not so much. This is like managers taking credit for the workers doing stuff.

[Kepler]

Ok, they may have a point.

But the worst part about naming it JW is that he's just an administrator. Hubble was an actual scientist. I'm ok with naming destructive things like military stuff after administrators (nothing better for a legacy that your name is associated with something so deadly), but discovery things- not so much. This is like managers taking credit for the workers doing stuff.

Like putting owners in the Hall of Fame.

[unofan]

Ok, they may have a point.

But the worst part about naming it JW is that he's just an administrator. Hubble was an actual scientist. I'm ok with naming destructive things like military stuff after administrators (nothing better for a legacy that your name is associated with something so deadly), but discovery things- not so much. This is like managers taking credit for the workers doing stuff.

If you've ever worked for a horrendous manager, you'd understand that a great manager is a godsend and deserves every credit they get.

[Kepler]

If you've ever worked for a horrendous manager, you'd understand that a great manager is a godsend and deserves every credit they get.

So's a good toilet, but we don't name our generational space projects after them. I'm sure there was some long-suffering gay black American Indian disabled female physicist we could have named it after.

[Kepler]

You can watch the launch here.

Coverage begins 6am ET 12/24.

[MichVandal]

If you've ever worked for a horrendous manager, you'd understand that a great manager is a godsend and deserves every credit they get.

A bonus or a building is fine. A telescope should be named after a Nobel winner. It's a very different level of honor.

[MichVandal]

You can watch the launch here.

Coverage begins 6am ET 12/24.

Good that you posted that, according to the news there, the schedule is now 7:20 am on Christmas, coverage starts 6am 12/25

[Kepler]

Good that you posted that, according to the news there, the schedule is now 7:20 am on Christmas, coverage starts 6am 12/25

Thanks! I would keep hitting the NASA links though to see if there are updates.

[unofan]

So's a good toilet, but we don't name our generational space projects after them. I'm sure there was some long-suffering gay black American Indian disabled female physicist we could have named it after.

I know this is because I'm still caffeine deprived and also annoyed because I just finished a book that, while entertaining, tried too hard to show how woke the author was to its detriment (and I don't say that lightly, knowing that it's overused), but I don't think my eyes could've rolled any farther back in my head.

We're in the age of Boaty McBoatface and givememoney.com sponsorships. Anything named normally is fine by me.

[LynahFan]

If you've ever worked for a horrendous manager, you'd understand that a great manager is a godsend and deserves every credit they get.

He led NASA’s transformation into a true space agency - it was still called NACA up through 1958. So he didn’t spend years in grad school counting fruit flies? Big deal. He was a visionary who pulled together not just an organization but the entire industrial base to put a man on the moon just 21 years after we broke the sound barrier - roughly the same amount of time that the F-35 program has existed.

I’m impressed.

[Kepler]

Worth a look.

[Kepler]

Guide to all of Webb's major deployments.

[MichVandal]

He led NASA’s transformation into a true space agency - it was still called NACA up through 1958. So he didn’t spend years in grad school counting fruit flies? Big deal. He was a visionary who pulled together not just an organization but the entire industrial base to put a man on the moon just 21 years after we broke the sound barrier - roughly the same amount of time that the F-35 program has existed.

I’m impressed.

Again, a big building would be just fine and more permanent than a space telescope. The telescope should be named for the team that figured out that there were black holes pretty much everywhere- altering astrophysics. Or the team that saw exoplanets- since that's one of the telescope's main missions.

Hubble's data show the universe was expanding. Which was one of the most profound changes in astronomy.