After the James Webb Space Telescope shot past Christmas Day, NASA announced some unexpected information about the telescope's future. The scientific mission it will undertake will likely take more than 10 years, double the minimum time to undertake a space mission.
Initially, James Webb was projected to be in operation for 5 to 10 years. But NASA's newly released analysis found that the telescope will likely have enough propellant to support scientific operations for much longer.
According to NASA, the extra propellant is thanks to the precision of the Ariane 5 rocket that James Webb used when it was launched into space. It's also due to the precision of the first and second mid-lane correction maneuvers, minor trajectory adjustments that the spacecraft has completed in the days since launch, putting it on track to its destination one million miles from Earth.
Quoted from The Verge, NASA says the precision of this maneuver allows the spacecraft to have more propellant that can be used to maintain its final position for observing the cosmos. The US space agency cautioned, however, that many factors could ultimately affect James Webb's lifespan.
The potential for expanding scientific research is reminiscent of the Hubble telescope, widely regarded as the predecessor to James Webb. NASA originally projected the Hubble telescope would last about 15 years, but it's still operational today, more than 30 years later.
The main difference between the two is that the Hubble Space Telescope can be serviced by astronauts, while James Webb cannot. James Webb collected infrared light, able to image objects 10 to 100 times fainter than what Hubble could see.
The accuracy of the launch trajectory also allowed James Webb to deploy his solar array a little earlier. Following separation from the Ariane 5 rocket, deployment of the James Webb solar array will begin approximately 33 minutes after launch.
But it actually happened about 29 minutes after launch because James Webb was in the right position after the split. However, unlike automated deployments of solar arrays, future deployments, including the spacecraft's Sun visor and its main mirror segment, will be controlled by humans.
