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Photo: Michael Ciaglo, staff member
A NASA engineer is reflected in the mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center.
A NASA engineer is reflected in the mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope at the Johnson Space Center.
Photo: Michael Ciaglo, staff memberA full-size model of the James Webb Space Telescope seen in Austin during the South by Southwest Festival in 2013.
A full-size model of the James Webb Space Telescope seen in Austin during the South by Southwest festival in 2013. [19659009] Photo: NASA / NASA Northrop Grumman says he's taken corrective action to maintain NASA's James Webb telescope
Shortly after NASA announced that the James Webb space telescope would be delayed for one year and would cost Another $ 1 Billion, Entrepreneur Northrop Grumman "Northrop Grumman is proud of our many accomplishments on the program, but we recognize that the problems we have encountered have had an impact on the program," said the door. Tim Paynter. in a statement, adding that they have "implemented the necessary corrective actions."
The space agency announced on Wednesday that the telescope – already more than a decade late and billions of dollars in budget – would be delayed another year until 2021 and cost nearly 9 billions of dollars to develop. The announcement follows a review of the project by a 10-member board of directors, which made 32 separate recommendations to keep the telescope on track. These recommendations include good employee training, better risk badessment and the creation of a management position to oversee system deployments in the space.
HISTORY: Missing screws, other human errors delay NASA's Webb telescope and drink about $ 1 billion. 19659021] James Webb, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is destined to revolutionize the understanding of the planet's world and the formation of stars. Originally scheduled for launch in 2007, it has had to deal with repeated delays and rising costs. The delay announced Wednesday pushes development costs beyond the $ 8 billion ceiling set by Congress in 2011, which means congressional leaders must reauthorize the project in the agency's budget for 2019.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and chair of the Science and Space Science Committee, said Wednesday that his committee will hold a hearing next month to discuss the panel's report
]. This report is the result of human errors and other technical problems attributable to Northrop Grumman, project master since 2002. For example, during a test conducted last month, the contractor lost many screws and washers holding the sun from the telescope. shield in place. Four ties are still missing and it costs the federal government $ 1 million a day in backlog.
On Wednesday, Thomas Zurbuchen, badociate director of NASA's Science Missions Directorate, said the space agency also took responsibility. ] "Do not get me wrong, I'm not happy about it," Zurbuchen said. But "we are part of this team that created the problem we are facing."
Officials said that they believed that the launch date of March 2021 would be achievable if NASA and Northrop Grumman followed the recommendations, many of which the agency claims has already been put in place. implemented.
Northrop Grumman "aggressively attacks the process and schedule, but we will not sacrifice quality on the schedule," said Mr. Paynter. "The success of the mission is our number one priority."
Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at [email protected] or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
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