Issue #3 - SpaceX Launches, James Webb, and more

James Webb

James Webb has been amazing this month with it reaching L2 this week on January 24th. With this, JWST is currently cooling as it orbits to get ready for a 3 month waiting period as JWST gets ready to start sending pictures back to Earth. From NASA, “Telescope deployment is complete. Webb is now orbiting L2. Ongoing cooldown and eventual instrument turn-on, testing and calibration occur. Telescope mirror alignment and calibration also begin as temperatures fall within range and instruments are enabled. Stay tuned…this page will track these milestones and keep you informed of where Webb is on the path to our first science images.

The telescope and scientific instruments started to cool rapidly in the shade of the sunshield once it was deployed, but it will take several weeks for them to cool all the way down to stable operational temperatures. This cooldown will be carefully controlled with strategically-placed electric heater strips. The remaining five months of commissioning will be all about aligning the optics and calibrating the scientific instruments.”

Source: Where Is Webb

SpaceX Launches

SpaceX has been pretty busy this month! With CRS24 coming back to Earth, and as this article being published, SpaceX is set to launch 2 missions Thursday night. SpaceX is also targeting February 2nd for the NROL-87 Mission. With all these launches planned, SpaceX might be on track to break their yearly launch record!

Starship

Starship has also been a topic of discussion this month, with new jobs opening for marine recoveries of starship boosters, and plans to go orbital in late February / early March, we might see starship take to the skies once again!