Into the Unknown

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to launch from Florida on March 30, 2021. The launch schedule is running years later than initially projected and of course it went way over budget.  If successfully launched and deployed, it will be worth it.

But everything must work perfectly from the get go.  There can be no manned repair missions like there were for Space Hubble Telescope.  The orbital position is 1,000,000 miles from Earth.

The video here was made in 2016, but you will get a good idea of the complex engineering involved. This telescope must be shielded from the light of the sun and will see far beyond anything seen from the Hubble.  It could be ground breaking.

Molten Salt Reactors Providing Power in the USA in 20 Years?

Nuclear Engineer, Lou Qualls, Ph.D. spoke this week at the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning about the future of the molten salt reactor technology that was developed by the late Alvin Weinberg, Ph.D. back in the 1960 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  Will this timeline be too late?  In my opinion, there has been little continued learning about this technology.  Weinberg devoted the latter part of his life promoting and lobbying the government to develop this energy source, but was told to 'go away.'  For the last few years we have been giving the technology away for free to other countries.