Open Space 53: Live QA with Paul Geithner from James Webb

Today I'll be joined by Paul Geithner, the Deputy Project Manager for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. You've had questions about this mission. Well... now's your chance to get them answered directly from the source.

Paul started working with NASA in 1991 on the Hubble Space Telescope, shifting over to James Webb. In 2011, he became the Deputy Project Manager, Technical for James Webb.

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[dilipsharan]

Really enjoyed it. It's always good when you hear two techies talk nuts and bolts as opposed to polished sophistication from administrators. :)

[MarcoRoepers]

Paul Geithner stated at the end of the interview that it was a really humbling to experience how hard challenges can be in developing the JWST . I can imagine how desperate he must have been when they didn't succeed in reaching the 4 degrees Kelvin. It must have looked like that it was impossible to cool something so much in the vacuum of space. I think we must realize how incredible difficult things can be and admire that the JWST is now almost in its final stage of testing. It must have been a hell of a job.

[nraynaud]

For the long storage issue, I think we can add that it is "not a problem" because it's designed in. A lot of contractors are military contractors, and they are used to missiles that stay 20 years in storage and have to work reliably only once. So the selection of grease and o-ring is guided by this prior knowledge.

[zapfanzapfan]

Damn, the internet conked out 15 minutes into the interview! Ah, well, I'll watch it in the morning.

Edit: A very interesting interview and good questions.

[parkey]

Wow, even I'm nervous about this launch and deployment going successfully, I can't imagine how these guys must feel and we're still 15 months away

[rJaune]

When you image using gravitational lensing does it look like anything, or does a computer have to descramble the image first? Great show!

[astroZ]

Will we be able to do instant parallax measurements/observations with JWST? Is that a valuable function?

[astroZ]

Since red dwarf/giant stars are so dim will JWST’s infrared be likely to find many more of these objects that are hidden “nearby” or just more farther out?

[dr.zoidberg]

I think it's more likely that we'll have the space travel technology & infrastructure to maintain the JWST before the 10 or 14 years come to pass after it is launched. I'm calling it now; I think the JWST will be decommissioned not because it can no longer operate, but only when we have such better telescopes available, it's no longer worth it to keep it operating.

[rshaw]

Question.
You and many others often mention using water as a shield against harmful radiation for use in deep space flight to protect future astronauts.
Would the water need to be in a liquid state? Would Ice work? Would the water be contaminated and unusable?

[undertow]

Hey Fraser! Question how do spray aerosols work in space?

The idea occurred to me wondering if we could spray something onto the surface of the moon and it would harden or cause the dust particles to bind together and create a landing pad? Perhaps starship could spray it out as in comes in to land and it reacts with heat to polymerize really quickly. Any thoughts?

[NoMoreForeignWars]

Hey fraser I'm having trouble understanding the barn pole paradox. How can simultaneous events be relative?

[doncarlodivargas]

Q: is IT possible to empty a piece of matter from all its photons?
Could we take a small piece of metal for example and heat it and let all the photons leave it so it stop to glow?

If so, how come we do not see this phenomenon?
If not, can we actually fill up the whole universe with photons drowning everything in those small elements swishing around?

[rJaune]

Is there anything special about the origami that is used to fold the shade? Was there an origami expert that was involved in the creation of that system?

[HeyHeyHarmonicaLuke]

PBS Spacetime talked about how in an entropy fluctuation model of the big bang, Boltzmann brains would outnumber observers in full universes, so we should be surprised we aren't Boltzmann brains, and this is an argument against that entropy fluctuation model of the big bang.
This aspect of the anthropic principle confuses me; why shouldn't I then be surprised I'm not an insect, and reject any model of the world where insects far outnumber humans?

[sanlinhtet]

Q: Hi Fraser, JWST field of regard is parallel to its sunshield instead of perpendicular to it. Do you know what is the design decision for it? As I think it could have wider angle of view and better protection from the sun light if the field of regard (FOR) were perpendicular to the shield.

[astroZ]

Will JWST have relay probes? If not how will it send signals to earth if the sun is blocking the direct path for communication? Thanks

[lovethebearded]

What if once it powers up and after a month it answers all the known questions we have of the universe?

[rJaune]

Why can’t we use JWST after the He runs out? Can’t it be used as a regular telescope after that?

[justinwilliams]

How far away from a star going super nova would be lethal for earth?