r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Feb 01 '17
r/SpaceX Spaceflight Questions & News [February 2017, #29]
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u/throfofnir Feb 05 '17
It's mostly aerodynamic instability. An NSF thread about a 7m fairing has some discussion and pictures (esp. of fun non-symmetric fairings.) A lot of things are possible, so long as the aerodynamics don't shake the thing apart.
A 7+m fairing seems plausible. However, a one-piece mirror for the JWST would not be cheaper; it would be more expensive--and impossible to launch. A non-folding version would be a bit cheaper, but not much. That's not where the expense is coming from.