NASA's Extremely Delayed Webb Telescope Takes Another Blow, Literally This Time - Gizmodo
A processing anomaly has caused an unexpected vibration to course through the entire Webb telescope just weeks before launch.
Honestly, nothing surprises me anymore about the Webb Space Telescope, but this latest incident is total cringe.The space telescope is currently at a satellite preparation facility in Kourou, French Guiana, where Arianespace is preparing the instrument for launch aboard its Ariane 5 rocket.
Ariane technicians were getting ready to mount the telescope to the launch vehicle adapter when a “sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band—which secures Webb to the launch vehicle adapter—caused a vibration throughout the observatory,” according to NASA.
Webb, being close to launch, is no longer equipped with sensors that were used while the spacecraft was being transported to French Guiana, he said, so without these sensors, the team is having to run calculations to estimate the amount of force endured by the telescope during the incident.
Hard to believe, but Webb was originally supposed to launch in 2007.