Launch of $93 billion Artemis lunar program disrupts communications with James Webb telescope

On November 16, the first mission within the framework of the Artemis program was launched.

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).In particular, the James Webb Space Telescope.

What is known

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket sent tospace ship Orion, which is already returning to Earth, having successfully completed part of the tasks. But because of him, communication problems with other spacecraft using the Deep Space Network began to be observed.

The system is used to provide communication betweendevices in space and specialists on Earth. The ground part of the Deep Space Network consists of 14 antennas located in Australia, Spain and the United States. The main problem is the lack of network capacity. This was confirmed by Mercedes López-Morales of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The need to communicate with Orion exacerbates the situation.

NASA knew about the problem, so in early 2021some antennas have been upgraded. In addition, in the spring of this year, the agency added several more antennas. However, this does not solve the problem. According to Lopez-Morales, in some cases, communication with the James Webb Space Telescope can be out for 80 hours.

Specialists send commands to the telescope onlyonce a week, so, on the one hand, the current situation cannot be called a catastrophe. But there is also the other side of the coin. The James Webb Space Telescope needs to be able to send data back to Earth to free up storage space, in which case extended periods of downtime are a problem.

Until NASA figured out how to get out of the situation, andJames Webb Space Telescope scientists are concerned that the $93 billion Artemis program is scheduled to launch spacecraft regularly starting in 2024. By the way, the James Webb Space Telescope is worth $10 billion.

A temporary way out of the situation was nevertheless found.At this stage, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland has made adjustments to the observation schedule. The decision was made to concentrate on short duration missions to eliminate the risk of filling up the SSD during periods of lack of communication.