JWST: 7 Years Later, Still a Disaster

Better than trying to fix it in space...!?

I recall Readers Digest had a story about the people involved in grinding the mirror for the Hubble telescope. If only those managers they interviewed have done what they said in the article, instead of blowing smoke on how great and meticulous they were.

A paltry $8 Billion, looks downright sexy when compared to the pricetag approaching $2 Trillion for the F-35 program.

That's the TOTAL F-35 program cost. You could actually buy 54 F-35s for the cost of the one JWST.

More to my point, hundreds of universities could have done some serious research with that $8B - or, if the d@mn thing had been built on time and on budget - they would have had $7Billion for research. That's some serious cash.

For example the Gran Telescope Canarias is one of the new 'super' telescopes recently built or in the process of being built. It cost $160 Million. With that $7Billion overrun, 43 'super' telescopes could have been built. And hundreds of astronomers would have had an opportunity to do hands-on research, not just the select few who will be running the JWST.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Telescopio_Canarias

"... You could actually buy 54 F-35s for the cost of the one JWST. ..."

Well, kind of. I don't think you could fly the 54 F35s at that price....and a plane that can't fly....well that isn't actually complete.

So if it were just the JWT, that comparison as well as the comparison to the Canary Island telescope might be more useful. But it isn't just the JWT, it is the JWST. Being above the atmosphere makes all the difference out of this world; both in capability and the need to reliably function with a minimum of hands on tinkering once on station.

Look, I am no fan of cost overruns, especially egregious overruns of the type the f35 and JWST represent. I do feel these are needed. We have many other ground based telescopes. The number of space based telescopes is far fewer in number, and none have the capabilities the JWST will provide.

Billion here a trillion there .... A billion is a large amount...no need to wait for it to add up.

Hopefully they'll be incorporating lots of newer technology.

I wonder how/if they incorporate predicted improvements in technology into the planning of these long projects.

I agree that the cost overruns and missed deadlines for the James Webb Space Telescope have been terrible. However, I think from a big picture perspective, given what it's capabilities will be once launched, 8 billion dollars would be a deal.

Has anyone considered that maybe they don't want to complete this project and they just need an excuse to keep thousands of Engineers employed ?

Has anyone considered that maybe they don't want to complete this project and they just need an excuse to keep thousands of Engineers employed ?

Sure there is waste and inefficiencies government projects, but anyone who worked on a government project where technology is involved... military or a project like this know there will be costs overruns and delays. From known, unknowns and the culprit of unknown, unknowns.

Unknown, unknowns.

Sounds like a calculus problem.

A dream land for some engineers.

project management terms