How long will the Webb mission last?
Webb will have a mission lifetime of not less than 5-1/2 years after launch, with the goal of having a lifetime greater than 10 years. The lifetime is limited by the amount of fuel used for maintaining the orbit, and by the testing and redundancy that ensures that everything on the spacecraft will work. Webb will carry fuel for a 10-year lifetime; the project will do mission assurance testing to guarantee 5 years of scientific operations starting at the end of the commissioning period 6 months after launch. • Why is Webb not serviceable like Hubble? Hubble is in low-Earth orbit, located approximately 600 kilometers away from the Earth, and is therefore readily accessible for servicing using the Space Shuttle. Webb will be operated at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, located approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth, and will therefore be beyond the reach of any manned vehicle currently being planned for the next decade. In the early days of the Webb project, studies
Webb will have a mission lifetime of not less than 5-1/2 years after launch, with the goal of having a lifetime greater than 10 years. The lifetime is limited by the amount of fuel used for maintaining the orbit, and by the testing and redundancy that ensures that everything on the spacecraft will work. Webb will carry fuel for a 10-year lifetime; the project will do mission assurance testing to guarantee 5 years of scientific operations starting at the end of the commissioning period 6 months after launch. • Why is Webb not serviceable like Hubble? Hubble is in low-Earth orbit, located approximately 600 kilometers away from the Earth, and is therefore readily accessible for servicing using the Space Shuttle. Webb will be operated at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, located approximately 1.5 million kilometers away from the Earth, and will therefore be beyond the reach of any manned vehicle currently being planned for the next decade. In the early days of the Webb project, studies
