James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Arxiv: Genesis of the James Webb Space Telescope Architecture: The Designers' Story Published: 1/15/2025 9:00:04 PM Updated: 1/15/2025 9:00:04 PM

Paper abstract: The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, is an infrared observatoryof novel design: deployable, with active optics, fully open to space forradiative cooling and orbiting the Lagrange point no. 2. This article explainsthe rationale leading to this specific design and describes the various otherarchitectures that were considered along the way: from a monolithic 10-metertelescope in geosynchronous orbit to a 6-meter one in High Earth Orbit, then a16-meter observatory on the Moon, a 4- or 6-meter one in an ellipticalheliocentric orbit, and a segmented 8-meter one passively cooled to 50 K at L2,which was finally descoped to 6.6 meters. It also addresses the optimizationfor scientific performance, the challenge of dealing with such an ultra-lowoperating temperature, cost issues, supporting technology, modifications madeduring final design and, finally, how the architecture performs on orbit.