Mistakes delay NASA’s new telescope yet again (James Webb Space Telescope delayed to 2021)

New York Post ^ | 6/28/18 | Associated Press

[Yossarian]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s next-generation space telescope has been delayed yet again at a staggering cost of $1 million a day.

For the third time in less than a year, the space agency announced a lengthy postponement Wednesday for the James Webb Space Telescope. The observatory will now fly no earlier than 2021; until last fall, it was on the books for a 2018 launch.

The telescope’s overall cost is now expected to reach nearly $10 billion. Development cost alone will exceed the $8 billion cap set by Congress by more than $800 million and require reauthorization.

An independent review board cites worker error and embedded hardware problems for much of the escalating costs and delays.

[Yossarian]

The James Webb Space Telescope is now eleven years behind schedule and 890% over budget... Whomever was responsible for overseeing this project should be prosecuted!

[Steely Tom]

“Reaching out to the Muslim world” is expensive.

[MichaelCorleone]

I’m a little surprised. I was sure the Muslim outreach would fix everything.

Whoda thought?

[Mr. K]

why the hell does a DELAY cost more money? And why a million dollars a day?

[Mr. K]

Give Tesla $1 Billion and I bet you get a better telescope.

[CA_soon_gone]

Does this replace the Hubble telescope or do they combine to make the Webb Hubble Space whatever..

[Ken H]

This doesn’t reflect well on them.

[MUDDOG]

Webb — considered a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope

The Webb/Hubble space telescopes.

The loose and lost nuts and bolts alone were enough to bump the mission into 2021, officials noted. ...

“The complexity and risk cannot be overstated or overestimated,” he said.

Untightened nuts and bolts. If that's "complex," God help us.

[cgbg]

I have been warning everyone—Never A Straight Answer—going to the Black Budget...

[Red Badger]

That ignites itself immediately after orbit...............

[Steely Tom]

Does this replace the Hubble telescope or do they combine to make the Webb Hubble Space whatever..

Webb is far more ambitious than Hubble. Incredible in many ways.

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

It’s the F-35 of telescopes.

[Stevenc131]

Old cartoon posted in a software company where I worked: Guy sticks his head through an office door and says to a programmer, “We got the contract! You start coding and I’ll draw up the specs”.

[CodeToad]

Typical NASA. Since the 1960’s they’ve been behind schedule and over budgets.

[DoughtyOne]

That makes sense to me. It’s just hard to understand how that failed.

/s

[TalonDJ]

They have already given Tesla that much and they haven’t got a better car yet.

[Yossarian]

Give Tesla $1 Billion and I bet you get a better telescope.

We already give the cockroaches at Tesla well over $1 Billion in subsidies, and all we get out of it are arrogant jerks in luxury cars that I helped pay for, cutting me off in traffic!

[billyboy15]

Badda boom!!!!

[Yossarian]

Does this replace the Hubble telescope (...) Ignoring the joke and using this as an excuse to clarify: The JWST is supposed to supplant Hubble, not replace it. Webb is just an infrared device, compared to the multispectral (infrared-optical-ultraviolet) device that Hubble is.

[G Larry]

There are procedures and standards to protect against all of these errors....but, when cost and schedule priorities start to flow from Congress to NASA, corners are cut and then the mistakes compound.