Keep in mind, however, that this is going to be used with a reflector telescope. And that this telescope has a 4-meter aperture. The primary mirror in a telescope of this size costs millions of dollars, and is machined to an incredibly precise level of accuracy. The question is, when do we get parabolic reflector handheld digicams?
I don't know the technical term for it, but it has a compound primary mirror, similar to the Keck. The segments are kept in alignment with a computer that takes pressure readings at regular intervals. The technology is more refined than in the Keck though, which makes it take up much less room and be much lighter. Until now, it wasn't possible to launch this kind of telescope into space, due to weight restrictions. Also, the aperture of the Hubble was limited by the requirement that it had to fit in the shuttle's payload bay. The Webb is being launched on an independent booster, so it can be bigger.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind, however, that this is going to be used with a reflector telescope. And that this telescope has a 4-meter aperture. The primary mirror in a telescope of this size costs millions of dollars, and is machined to an incredibly precise level of accuracy. The question is, when do we get parabolic reflector handheld digicams?
I don't know the technical term for it, but it has a compound primary mirror, similar to the Keck. The segments are kept in alignment with a computer that takes pressure readings at regular intervals. The technology is more refined than in the Keck though, which makes it take up much less room and be much lighter. Until now, it wasn't possible to launch this kind of telescope into space, due to weight restrictions. Also, the aperture of the Hubble was limited by the requirement that it had to fit in the shuttle's payload bay. The Webb is being launched on an independent booster, so it can be bigger.