The launch of Webb has been postponed to 2021 for an additional cost of nearly $ 1 billion – Spaceflight Now

An independent group has informed NASA that the James Webb Space Telescope will not be ready for launch until March 2021, and Congress will need to reauthorize the long-term mission, exceeding $ 8 billion. Mistakes by Webb's manufacturing and testing team at Northrop Grumman, the Mission's prime contractor, are largely responsible for the delayed launch, according to Thomas Young, a former Lockheed Martin executive responsible for NASA's program. "We are all disappointed that the Webb outcome, and its launch, is taking longer than expected, but we are creating something new here," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a message. video addressing Wednesday's announcement. "We are dealing with state-of-the-art technology to accomplish an unprecedented mission, and I know that our teams are working hard and succeed in meeting the challenges." In space, we must always look long term, and sometimes the complexities of our missions do not meet as soon as we wish, but we learn, we go forward and finally we get there " said Bridenstine. "We will get there with Webb … I badure you that in the end, the Webb telescope will be worth it."

NASA was hoping, like last year, to launch the Webb Observatory in October, but the mistakes made by the teams at Northrop Grumman piled up to delay the launch of the mission. Agency officials acknowledged last September that the launch would go until 2019, and officials said in March that the mission would not be ready to take off until May 2020.

NASA ordered the review board to determine the cost of recovery from test errors and the full development of the observatory was evaluated.

The group of experts concluded that NASA was still too optimistic in its schedule and that a new problem had been discovered after an acoustic test on the spacecraft. year added to the deadline. NASA approved the evaluation of the review board's schedule and set a new target launch date on March 30, 2021.

"The cost of this delay (as of 2018) is estimated by the IRB at $ 1 billion, "Young said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "This 29-month delay is caused by five factors: human errors, nested problems, lack of experience in areas such as sunshades, excessive optimism, and complexity of systems."

Young said the panel was in agreement with NASA and astronomers scientific significance, and they concluded that the mission should be launched. NASA views Webb as the top priority of the agency's scientific division.

The total cost of Webb for NASA is expected to reach $ 9.66 billion, according to the space agency, including post-launch operations and data processing expenses. The cost of completing the observatory is now estimated at about $ 8.8 billion, exceeding the $ 8 billion ceiling imposed by Congress in 2011.

Legislators will have to formally reauthorize the mission after the violation of the budget.

Steve Jurczyk, NASA's Associate Administrator, said that the agency has submitted a report to Congress detailing the new schedule and cost estimates of Webb. NASA will request re-authorization of the congress in the coming months, said Jurczyk.

He said that NASA's plan requires an additional 837 million dollars to complete the development of the observatory.

Jurczyk added that NASA work on the observatory, and start implementing the 32 recommendations proposed by the Independent Review Board.

"We will need additional funding for this plan in 2020 and 2021, and we are in the process of defining our budget demand for 2020"

Young cited several errors by Northrop Grumman that contributed to the delay until 39, in 2021.

In one example, technicians used the wrong solvent to clean the spacecraft's propulsion valves, damaging sensitive components, Youngrop Grumman should have checked with the valve supplier to make sure that the cleaning agent was compatible, says Young.

The Northrop Grumman team also applied excessive tension to transducers and fasteners improperly installed on Webb's sunshade, and then deploy to the size of a tennis court once in the space.The five-layer sun visor will keep the telescope and Webb instruments in the shade and cool enough to detect the weak infrared light from distant stars and galaxies.

Fasteners stand out during an acoustic test simulating the conditions An Ariane 5 rocket from French Guyana

Part of the fastening hardware, which included parts like washers and screws, was not used. has still not been found on the spacecraft or in Northrop Grumman's test facility in Redondo Beach, California. According to engineer Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Missions Directorate, if the hardware components are still on the spacecraft, engineers should find them when Webb submits them for deployment trials [19659003] "Eliminating errors in the installation procedure of the fasteners would have prevented this problem," said Young, who added that the errors could have been avoided. by "simple solutions that have not been implemented (which resulted in a delay of about one and a half years and a cost of about $ 600 million."

"Human Problems Are Mistakes Workers also discovered tears in the solar shield after a deployment test, and these tea plants were used by people working on flight equipment or developers of procedures that dictate the way to work on the flight equipment.They have been repaired.Other sunscreen deployment tests are planned in order to ensure that this problem will not happen again.

Young said that several of the review panel's recommendations are aimed at minimizing human errors and reducing their impact on Webb's overall schedule and budget.] "Through proper discipline, training and procedures, you can minimize any impact they've got, "Young said.

The panel also recommended that NASA review the work already done on Webb. The audit uncovered problems before they were discovered during testing or after launch, Young said.

NASA also approved the board's recommendation to appoint a manager to oversee the commissioning of Webb. launch in which many appendices and components will be expanded and deployed to configure the observatory of scientific observations.

Northrop Grumman reorganized the procedures and made personnel changes on the Webb team, and NASA added managers and engineers overseeing the work of the contractor. "Of course, Northrop is part of that, but we're watching that, so we're taking responsibility too," Zurbuchen said.

Jurczyk said that NASA's contract with Northrop Grumman allows the agency to evaluate the company's performance.

"Every six months, we establish for them a performance plan on which we evaluate them, then they earn prizes, which is their profit based on their performance," said Jurczyk. "Their fees reflected their performance in previous periods, and they will reflect performance as we move forward. This is how we hold them accountable and reward them for their good performance, not their poor performance.

The schedule and budget problems that plague the ambitious Webb Observatory are the latest in a series of problems since the mission. first conceived in the 1990s. The launch of Webb has been delayed for more than a decade and its total cost has exceeded $ 10 billion, including contributions from NASA partners in Canada and Europe.

All components of the observatory are in a clean room at Northrop Grumman's Redondo Beach Technicians will link JWST's space platform to the mission science and telescope module, which has arrived at the Northrop Grumman plant earlier this year after badembling at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and a cryogenic test at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The telescope and the instruments have pbaded their autonomous tests, but the spacecraft is still doing its test campaign. Once the two main segments of the observatory combined, the entire vehicle will be the subject of a new series of tests, including other checks to verify that the windshield -Sun, solar panels, mirrors and antennas from Webb are deployed as planned after launch. The famous Hubble Space Telescope, named in honor of NASA's former administrator, James Webb, will be stationed in orbit near Lagrange's L2 point, at nearly a million kilometers from Earth. The telescope detectors will be cooled as cold as minus 448 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 266 degrees Celsius).

Webb's 21.3-foot primary mirror consists of 18 segments, each with mechanical motors to perfectly align the telescope once in space. The mirror is six times larger than Hubble, giving Webb more than 100 times the sensitivity of its predecessor.

"With infrared spectroscopy and unprecedented sensitivity and resolution to detect weak infrared light from astronomical objects, Webb will revolutionize and enrich" We are alone in the universe? "Said John Mather, Webb project scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

"Webb is world clbad" Mather said. "From detection of first stars and galaxies in the far universe to exploration atmospheres of nearby exoplanets for possible signs of habitability, (Webb) will support many other astrophysical projects. "

" I would say we're definitely upset I have to wait because this telescope seemed to be right now, coming, and we've already decided what to do with the first half observations, "said Mather on Wednesday." So we'll have to wait, but on the other hand, I think we are really excited that we make sure it works. Zurbuchen said Wednesday that lawmakers and White House officials were in agreement that Webb's scientific potential was "compelling", but he said it was too early to badess how the Congress would react to the delay. [19659003] "I think it would be premature to give … a real idea of ​​where we are going," he said.

Several members of Congress pronounced Wednesday in statements

"Although I am deeply disappointed Over the past few months, I believe that the discoveries we will get from the James Webb space telescope are worth the cost of achieving the mission – what the independent review team has recommended, "said Sen. Bill Nelson, D- Florida." Imagine if we had chosen not to continue the Hubble Space Telescope after its problems had been discovered? But we also need to think about how to better manage ambitious, complex and ambitious programs in the future. "

" The James Webb Space Telescope has tremendous potential to expand our knowledge of our solar system and our universe, "said Representative Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the Science Committee, of the" The Space Telescope ". space and technology of the House. "Delays and cost overruns not only delay the critical work of the JWST, but they also harm other valuable NASA missions, which may be delayed, rejected or entirely abandoned."

Smith adds that the committee will review the independent review He said a committee hearing is scheduled next month with Bridenstine's chief executive, Young and Northrop Grumman, Wes Bush, to address the report's findings.

Webb escaped the threat of cancellation in 2011 after legislators proposed zeroing of the mission's budget. Following the virtual cancellation of Webb, NASA and Congress agreed to target the launch of the observatory in 2018.

Zurbuchen said that the European Space Agency, which provides the launch vehicle Webb as part of its contribution to the mission, NASA insured an Ariane 5 rocket will be available for the observatory in 2021.

ESA and Arianespace, the French company that operates the Ariane family, plan to withdraw the Ariane 5 launcher by the end of 2022 in favor of the cheapest Ariane 6 rocket will debut in 2020.

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