The telescope is designed so that it will not require maintenance and will stay 1.6 million km from Earth, but NASA is considering intervention in the event of a malfunction using the Orion spacecraft
When the James Webb telescope is launched into space in 2013, it will be considered the most sophisticated telescope ever launched. In order for it to be able to look into space with minimal use of fuel, it will be placed in an orbit that is 1.6 million km from the Earth.
Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope was designed in such a way that it does not require repairs during operation, but despite this, NASA has stated that it is taking the option of equipping the telescope with an external hook that will be used to connect to an outside telescope, just in case.
When the Orion spacecraft project is completed and launched into space in about seven years, Orion will be able to take astronauts to the moon and back to Earth. NASA is checking whether it will be possible to send the astronauts to perform an emergency mission to repair the telescope.
The James Webb Space Telescope was originally designed to be an independent and sophisticated telescope to save complicated missions to space for repairs, but NASA does not take unnecessary risks and prefers to keep additional options.
Now at NASA, engineers are starting to think about the best software to install on the telescope, so that astronauts or robots can quickly connect and make repairs.
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It sits at one of the Lagrange points between the gravity of the Earth and the Sun, so less energy needs to be invested to keep the satellite in place.
There is emptiness even at an altitude of 1000 km. The conditions that prevail at a distance
1000 or 3000 km are the same as the conditions that prevail at a distance of one million or two million km.
What advantage is there in 1.6 m km?