Damn you, coronavirus. Damn you. Now you've gone too far: James Webb Space Telescope, Moon mission work paused
- Reference: 1585033625
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/24/nasa_james_webb_delay_coronavirus/
- Source link:
Lockdown measures are in place across California, as well various other US states and countries, and that’s not a problem for NASA folks who just need a computer and internet access to work on projects. But for engineers told to stay home for their own safety, and who need to be on-site to manufacture parts or run physical tests on equipment, their work has been put on ice for the time being, and that could push back programs.
Case in point: scientists working on the James Webb Space Telescope are predominantly based in California, where Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered all of its residents – nearly 40 million total – to stay home as much as possible for the foreseeable future. As such work on the project has been paused. A deadline for experimental proposals for the observatory [1]has been pushed back to the end of May.
“We are going to take care of our people. That’s our first priority,” [2]said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine earlier this month.
“Technology allows us to do a lot of what we need to do remotely, but, where hands-on work is required, it is difficult or impossible to comply with CDC [the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines while processing spaceflight hardware, and where we can’t safely do that we’re going to have to suspend work and focus on the mission critical activities.”
This is not good news for the mega-delayed James Webb Space Telescope. The infrared observatory, planned to be a successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope, was expected to launch in 2007 when first pitched. But a major redesign, increasing costs, and botched test deployments knocked back repeated attempts to send the thing into space. Now, thirteen years later, the telescope faces another series of setbacks as the world combats the coronavirus pandemic.
Behind time and way over budget, but the James Webb Space Telescope has finally been put together [3]READ MORE
The telescope is right now sitting in a clean room, and was expected to launch on March 30, 2021. However, an audit
[4]PDF
earlier this year suggested even then the project had a 12 per cent chance of hitting that target.The global pandemic also spells bad news for the [5]Artemis program , an international effort led by NASA to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024. NASA said work continues with “limited production of hardware and software for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.”
NASA has, though, [6]temporarily shut down the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, making it impossible to test the SLS. The Michoud Assembly Facility, in New Orleans, has also temporarily closed so parts for the [7]Orion spacecraft, which sits atop of the SLS and can house and support up to six astronauts, cannot be put together.
An employee working at the Stennis Center tested positive for COVID-19 as has [8]someone at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; there have been no confirmed cases at the Michoud Assembly Facility. After the outbreak blows over, NASA hopes to eventually attach the Orion spacepod onto the SLS for testing.
The only missions that have been given the green light to continue is NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, which includes its [9]Perseverance Rover and Mars Helicopter. Both bits of equipment are expected to leave terra firm for the Red Planet in July.
Here's how to survive isolation, according to astronauts
Meanwhile, if you’re going stir crazy from being cooped up at home, NASA astronauts have been sharing their advice: social distancing for them meant being 254 miles (408,773 meters) up and away from the rest of human civilization, much further than the six feet (1.83 metres) recommended by the CDC.
Anne McClain, who spent over 203 days in the International Space Station, [10]recommended sharpening five different skills to help you and others around you living in confined conditions.
These included: strong communication, clear leadership and followership roles, accepting responsibility, practicing self-care and team care, and improving group living conditions.
“We are all astronauts on planet Earth together,” she [11]tweeted . “We'll be successful in confinement if we are intentional about our actions and deliberate about caring for our teams.” ®
[1] http://www.stsci.edu/contents/news/jwst/2020/the-jwst-cycle-1-deadline-has-been-delayed
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-leadership-assessing-mission-impacts-of-coronavirus
[3] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/29/james_webb_space_telescope/
[4] https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/704078.pdf
[5] https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/
[6] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/march-19-administrator-statement-on-agency-response-to-coronavirus
[7] https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html
[8] https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2020/03/23/employee-nasas-kennedy-space-center-tests-positive-coronavirus/2898173001/
[9] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/06/mars_rover_perseverance/
[10] https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1241799141321256960
[11] https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1241799156584284161
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
Sorry, but I am not likely to be following advice from an Anonymous Coward.
Your advice might be good or it could be complete bollocks, but if you're not willing to put your name to it, then you're no different to the idiots claiming drinking bleach will cure Coronavirus (I guess technically it does, since you'll die from drinking bleach instead of potentially dying from Coronavirus, but its not quite the "cure" most people are looking for).
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
Your name is lglethal (how does a name help?) and you can verify everything I said in that post, independent of me.
I recommend that you always verify anything someone says, independent of the original source.
Does soap break up Covid? I'm sure you can find the answer independent of me.
Does cutting two slits in a wet wipe make a face mask? Go get a wet wipe, scissors and try it.
Is baby shampoo a mild soap?
Does a humidifier spread soap? It even spreads cola, see Youtube for many examples, you know how to search you-tube right?
You can whine, or you get off your lazy whiney ass and go verify.
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
Or you could do the decent thing and cite reputable sources...
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
Corona Virus has a lipid envelope:
https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2020/a-coronavirus-qa-with-a-virologist.php
"coronaviruses and influenzaviruses have a lipid envelope (membrane) around the capsid (protein shell) and rhinoviruses, which cause the common cold, do not. "
It breaks down under soaps (surfactants):
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/12/science-soap-kills-coronavirus-alcohol-based-disinfectants
"So why does soap work so well on the Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus and indeed most viruses? The short story: because the virus is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. Soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and dies – or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive."
Corona virus is airborne:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12307276
Humidifiers don't just put water into the air, they nebulize whatever the liquid is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWSMp-O2zQ0
The person replying to me did not respond to anything I said, instead they were trying to plant the idea that it was comparable to "drink bleach", then they debunked the "drink bleach" thing he just said. It's a rhetorical argument trick known as the "straw man" argument.
I have him/you links, he did not read them. Wikipedia and the research paper on surfactants against virus. A troll making a straw man argument will never simply google or read any link I provide, and I cannot make them.
Not only should you verify what I say independent of me, you should recognize and verify the straw man argument independent of the troll making it.
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
Well done for citing sources. Minus double for having a go at Iglethal. You should have said thank you for pointing out how you could do better.
Beth Mole has a Ph.D. in micro biology, contacts in more relevant fields, knows what questions to ask, what the answers mean and is skilled at conveying those answers clearly to the public. She has written a comprehensive [1]guide to the coronavirus that I thoroughly recommend you read especially the section on face masks. In short, unless you are instructed to do so by a medical professional you should not wear a face mask. If you have received such advice you should be aware that they [2]require skill to use. Newbies tend to fiddle with them - bringing contaminated hands next to their mouth and increasing their chance of getting ill. Surgical masks are to protect the patient from the surgeon. Masks - especially improvised ones - are germ factories.
Above all else: please get advice from professionals not clueless commentards like me. If you pass on advice, show where you got it from so we know the source is not [3]Andrew Wakefield or [4]Mike [5]Pence .
[1] https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/dont-panic-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-guide-to-the-coronavirus/
[2] https://www.osha.gov/Publications/respirators-vs-surgicalmasks-factsheet.html
[3] https://briandeer.com/mmr/andrew-wakefield.htm
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/us/politics/mike-pence-needle-exchanges-indiana.html
[5] https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-will-announce-hiv-fight-at-state-of-the-union-he-should-do-the-opposite-of-what-pence-did-in-indiana
No, Facemasks good, shortage of facemasks bad!
@"Beth Mole has a Ph.D.....She has written a comprehensive guide to the coronavirus...In short, unless you are instructed to do so by a medical professional you should not wear a face mask."
Your precis of her words are not her words. This is the first paragraph of what she wrote there:
"Face masks are now in short supply globally, and prices have surged. This is making it difficult for healthcare workers to get the supplies they need to keep themselves safe so they can stay healthy, keep treating patients, and avoid spreading the infection. This tragic situation is exacerbating the outbreak."
The shortage of facemasks in the west is a problem, but go read what I wrote.
Here is how to make a face mask from a wet wipe. Which was the thing I told you. Such facemasks do not lessen the number of face masks available to nurses:
https://www.google.com/search?q=face+mask+from+wet+wipe
Facemasks work, see image search "korean corona virus"? Do you see anyone (public or professional) without a facemask?
https://www.google.com/search?q=korean+corona+virus
"Above all else: please get advice from professionals not clueless commentards"
Yes!
You need to verify everything. I could simply have taken your selective quoting of Beth's word, and not bothered to go read what she wrote and I would have been misled.
EVERYONE should verify EVERYTHING.
Re: Humidifier+Baby Shampoo+Water
That the virus (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted effectively via an airborne route has limited evidence. I think we should stick to the WHO advise that face masks for healthy people are not required.
Feeding a troll I know, but ...
Shortage of masks not relevant
Keep in mind the shortage of masks is not relevant to a comment explaining how to make a mask from a wet wipe. But lets go read the WHO advice.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks
"Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: When and how to use masks"
"If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection. Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing. Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water. If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly."
So WHO: "you only need", YOU: "do not unless"
You have changed the emphasis on their words.
You do not know if you have the disease and are asymptomatic and infectious and thus could not tell if you need a mask or not. This is why apparently healthy people are in quarantine too.
The advice relating to the shortage of masks is irrelevant to a comment that explains how to make a mask from a wet wipe.
Take a wet wipe, cut two slits down the sides where your ears go. Hook it over your ears. There, you have an ad-hoc wet wipe face mask that does not lessen the number of face masks available to nurses.
The WHO advice is sound, you should also use soap too.
Your skewing of WHO's careful wording to suit your agenda is not sound.
"That the virus (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted effectively via an airborne route has limited evidence"
Cover your mouth when you cough. The airborne vector is known, you are attempting to give misleading evidence.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-full-press-conference-11feb2020-final.pdf?sfvrsn=e2019136_2
" This is airborne, corona is airborne, it's more contagious and you have seen how it went into 24 countries although it's a small number of cases."
It's an easily learned lesson
If anything its an easily learned lesson. The virus itself is easy to defeat, what's hard are the twats propagating it.
Fox News spent weeks pretending it was all a hoax. A Democrat meme to make Trump's inaction look bad. But it's *their* viewer demographic that is dying from it. The older Americans that die the most from it are a Fox News staple. Fox News viewers, you're being trained to respond to dog whistles, "socialism", "antifa" etc. They blow the whistle and you jump up and do your trick. Nazi's are the good guys now, and health-care is what we fought against in WW2. 'Bail outs for billionaires' is capitalism, 'food for school kids' is the new Nazis. No, its a lie and Fox News is the liar. It's product is it viewer, trained-up and sold to its sponsors.
TV Evangelists think its a great money making opportunity. Pray away the virus. If you die, well, you didn't donate enough! Ring now with your credit card details. No, its a lie, and they are the liar.
Republicans are practicing their messaging for cancelling the elections. With Ohio Republican governor already cancelling one election, rather than running a postal only vote, or opening more voting stations spread out over longer voting time. No, they can run elections, its a lie and they are liars.
Bill Barr is trying to remove the judicial branch completely. If he gets his way, he can arrest anyone, and they will never be allowed a court hearing because that would be 'Covid' risk. Even though hearings are done by video from the prison these days, somehow the virus transmits over the airwaves! Any bill to give the DOJ more powers, should require Bill Barr to step down and the DOJ to be run by a person chosen by Congress. You cannot give someone in defiance of the law, more power and expect him to suddenly obey the laws. He's already ignoring the judicial rulings and House subpoena powers, already undermining prosecutions. Bill Barr needs to go and rule-of-law needs to be put back into the DOJ.
Mnuchin and the Fed are funneling free money to billionaires and investment banks to buy up temporarily distressed assets. As if the temporary stock market drop is the real problem! Those assets will bounce back when the problem is fixed, a massive transfer of value from poor to rich is bad. Mnuchin's shit needs to stop.
So they don't test people in the USA, and as a result the Covid infections number is lower. That didn't help. It's an exponential growth curve, the shape of the curve cannot be hidden even if the relative scale can be reduced. You can see from the Italy vs USA curve shape, the USA hid the numbers. Executive branch staff needs to report to Congress, subpoena powers for Congress need to be restored. Oversight needs to be restored.
When the vaccine is available can people afford it? Will it be a mass market cheap thing, or will it be a high priced, rich mans luxury?
Will it be like Medicare? Available to the Republican voter demographic but not the rest? Medicare for some? Like the US has now?
If the vaccine is available in Canada, but not USA, will Americans have to trek across the border to get it, because of the USA closed market with inflated pharma prices? Will Americans be allowed even to cross the border for vaccines or will that be made a crime too? Like buying drugs from Pharmacies across the border is now?
The Koreans and Chinese have defeated it already. It's an easy lesson to learn!
/rant
Re: It's an easily learned lesson
Cool rant. Needs more SHOUTY CAPS. I give it a 6/10 for making some sense.
Re: It's an easily learned lesson
Cool rant.
No, I do not see it as a rant.
I think it is a well put and very clear description of the present situation in the US.
10/10 for doing it.
Thank you.
O.
Re: It's an easily learned lesson
I agree with much of your comment – and in particular you are right about the massive fuckwittery and, in fact, evil behaviour by the some of the US administration.
However you also say this:
The virus itself is easy to defeat [... most of your comment elided ...] The Koreans and Chinese have defeated it already.
And both of these statements are false and it's important that people understand that they are false.
What the Koreans and Chinese have done is suppressed the virus: they've got the reproduction number, R, below 1 so that infections decline, asymptotically to zero. But they've done this by taking very extreme measures (probably measures which can't be taken in many countries). At some point they will need to stop these measures, and at that point R will increase above 1 and infections will return, unless everyone, everywhere in the world, has managed to suppress the virus for long enough that the virus dies out. That is extremely unlikely to happen.
The [1]16th March Imperial paper describes this pretty well, and has really good graphs from the output of their model. It is kind of out of date now, as it's over a week old, but I'm not aware that anything they say is wrong. In particular, from the introduction to the paper:
The major challenge of suppression is that this type of intensive intervention package – or something equivalently effective at reducing transmission – will need to be maintained until a vaccine becomes available (potentially 18 months or more) – given that we predict that transmission will quickly rebound if interventions are relaxed. We show that intermittent social distancing – triggered by trends in disease surveillance – may allow interventions to be relaxed temporarily in relative short time windows, but measures will need to be reintroduced if or when case numbers rebound. Last, while experience in China and now South Korea show that suppression is possible in the short term, it remains to be seen whether it is possible long-term, and whether the social and economic costs of the interventions adopted thus far can be reduced.
[1] https://doi.org/10.25561/77482
Sad, but necessary
The Moon will remain up there for a while, going there can wait, and isn't worth risking lives for (beyond the inherent risks of travelling through an environment that is trying to kill you, on top of a machine that could undergo a rapid, unplanned disassembly, resulting in something resembling the icon)