James Webb Space Telescope gets hit by larger than expected micrometeoroid (theverge.com)

Leave it to the aliens to to sabotage their discovery with plausibly denial "larger than expected, not unreasonable, just unlikely" micrometeoroids.

So what's the plan here when it actually about to get hit by a bigger rock?

> Since its launch, JWST has already been hit by at least four different micrometeoroids

Oh Jesus, it's sitting in a gravity well, isn't it? Would it be any different to scuba dive in the center of the pacific trash gyre and be surprised when you have to push micro-plastics aside ?

You would think the worst is over, but no, now it's got larger than expected micro problems to deal with.

NASA has a blog post today titled "Engineered to Endure Micrometeoroid Impacts" [1]

>This most recent impact was larger than was modeled, and beyond what the team could have tested on the ground.

>...mirror positions enables partial correction for the result of impacts. By adjusting the position of the affected segment, engineers can cancel out a portion of the distortion. This minimizes the effect of any impact, although not all of the degradation can be cancelled out this way.

>This most recent hit was not a result of a meteor shower and is currently considered an unavoidable chance event. As a result of this impact

>Since launch, we have had four smaller measurable micrometeoroid strikes that were consistent with expectations

[1] https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/06/08/webb-engineered-to-en...