Ariane 5 performance a boon to Webb

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From the Ars Technica weekly Rocket Report:

"Last weekend NASA's Mission Systems Engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope, Mike Menzel, said the agency had completed its analysis of how much "extra" fuel remained on board the telescope. Roughly speaking, Webb has enough propellant on board for 20 years of life. This is twice the conservative pre-launch estimate for Webb's lifetime of a decade, and it largely comes down to the performance of the European Ariane 5 rocket that launched Webb on a precise trajectory on Christmas Day, Ars reports.

Prior to launch, the telescope was fueled with 240 liters of hydrazine fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. Some of this fuel was needed for course adjustments along the journey to the point in space, about 1.5 million km from Earth, where Webb will conduct science observations. The remainder will be used at Webb's final orbit around the L2 Lagrange point for station-keeping and to maintain its orbit. So every kilogram of fuel saved on Webb's journey to the Lagrange point could be used to extend its life there."

The Rocket Report will be available on https://arstechnica.com tomorrow.

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[Unitron48]

This is great news! Hubble had an expected 15 year lifetime....now over 30 years! Wishing Webb the very best also!!

Dave