Posted: Dec 26, 2021 7:27 pm
Calilasseia wrote:Apparently, no less than 344 separate moving parts have to move into the right places, and in the right order, simply in order to have an instrument that can be left to cool down to its operating temperature. Failure of any one of those movements will result in this being the most expensive piece of junk in space.
I wonder what probability of success was deemed acceptable?
90%? 99%?
Solving x^344 = 0.99, say, suggests that each of those 344 components has to have a reliability of at least 0.999971.
Calilasseia wrote:Plus, if anything malfunctions, it's beyond the reach of a repair crew. So whoever built it, has had to build it to operate maintenance-free for 6 years minimum.
Does it have enough fuel to do a de-orbit burn and bring it back to LEO where they could potentially do some maintenance?