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daedrdevyesterday at 6:13 PM1 replyview on HN

Like imagine how much better the James web could have been with such a large and cheap launch vehicle.


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kibwenyesterday at 6:18 PM

That's not how this works. The JWST was limited by the size of its faring, but increasing the size of the faring doesn't mean they'd ship a less complex telescope with the same functionality; they'd ship an equally-complex telescope with more functionality. Better for science, yes, but that doesn't translate to more expenditure that could be captured by the launch company. And that still relies on a government that gives a damn about funding science, which is not not the direction that the US is heading in.

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