{"id":457177,"date":"2022-08-19T12:11:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T10:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=457177"},"modified":"2022-08-19T12:15:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T10:15:01","slug":"james-webb-space-telescope-runs-20-year-old-javascript-engine-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/science\/457177-james-webb-space-telescope-runs-20-year-old-javascript-engine-report.html","title":{"rendered":"James Webb Space Telescope runs 20-year-old JavaScript engine from bankrupt company"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which has already delivered some astonishing images, is primarily controlled by JavaScript code based on a software development kit from 2003.<\/p>\n<p>The Verge <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/18\/23206110\/james-webb-space-telescope-javascript-jwst-instrument-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a><\/strong> that a manuscript for the JWST&#8217;s Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) reveals that the software for the module is controlled by the Script Processor Task, which &#8220;runs scripts written in JavaScript&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The JWST is loaded with several scripts for completing a range of specific tasks.<\/p>\n<p>When the scientists on the ground instruct it to run such tasks, the Script Processor interprets the JavaScript programs, which then activates other applications and systems based on what the script demands.<\/p>\n<p>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) describes the ISIM as &#8220;the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>This is because it comprises instruments that capture images through the telescope, and the JavaScript code controls the process.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stsci.edu\/~idash\/pub\/dashevsky0607rcsgso.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paper about the telescope&#8217;s systems<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 written by Ilana Dshevsky and Vicky Balzano of the Space Telescope Science Institute \u2014 reveals that the JWST uses\u00a0Nombas ScriptEase 5.00e.<\/p>\n<p>ScriptEase 5.00e is a language that follows the ECMAScript standard.<\/p>\n<p>However, Nombas <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/brent-noorda.com\/nombas\/history\/HistoryOfNombas.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">went bankrupt<\/a><\/strong> in the 2000s and the last update to ScriptEase 5.00e was released in January 2003.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\">Now read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/science\/457153-spacex-starships-first-satellite-launch-contract-revealed.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SpaceX Starship&#8217;s first satellite launch contract revealed<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The telescope runs JavaScript written using Nombas ScriptEase 5.00e, which was last updated in 2003.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":429466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31750],"tags":[80743,23501,32378,22983,80735,80745],"class_list":["post-457177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-ilana-dshevsky","tag-james-webb-space-telescope","tag-javascript","tag-national-aeronautics-and-space-administration-nasa","tag-nombas-scriptease-5-00e","tag-vicky-balzano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457223,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457177\/revisions\/457223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}