Webb Survives 344 Failure Points, Now Runs on Less Power Than a Tea Kettle at L2
Launched with a list of 344 single-point failures, the James Webb Space Telescope avoided every one through a careful, unattended deployment. The sunshield’s successful unfolding and the mirror alignments minimized risk, enabling a mission at the Sun–Earth L2 point about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Remarkably, Webb now operates on roughly one kilowatt of power—about the same as a household kettle—thanks to passive cooling and shade, letting it conduct ultra‑sensitive infrared astronomy from a million miles away.