I have to imagine it must. Perfect practice make perfect. Another comment mentions the mission has hundreds of single-point failures, and JWST is known to have had testing hiccups on Earth.
How much better would the program run overall if it were comprised of a series of increasing-stakes missions, like Apollo? Build a dummy instrument just to test the heat shield. Send a satellite up to L2 with no optics just to test the 26Ghz link. Heck, even just one "dress rehearsal" launch and deployment would inform so much.
> Hadden : First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?
- Contact
How much better would the program run overall if it were comprised of a series of increasing-stakes missions, like Apollo? Build a dummy instrument just to test the heat shield. Send a satellite up to L2 with no optics just to test the 26Ghz link. Heck, even just one "dress rehearsal" launch and deployment would inform so much.
> Hadden : First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price? - Contact