Good news: the telescope is unfurling it's heat-shield AND saved fuel on launch that may extend it's operational life be operation The James Webb Space Telescope has started unfurling its giant sunshield Due to Precision Launch, NASA Says Webb Space Telescope’s Fuel Likely To Last Way More Than 10 Years
I say unfurl. If you unfurl and she comes back, she’s yours. But if you spew and she bolts, it was never meant to be.
It's going to the sun. Even if it goes at night, it still won't last too long with all the residual heat from the day.
It's going to the L2 Lagrange point, which means it is permanently going to be shaded from the sun by the Earth. It's basically going to be in a permanent eclipse.
Because at L2 apparent size of the Earth relative to the sun makes it a permanent annular eclipse, not total eclipse. But at L2, by definition, the Earth has to stay between JW and the sun for the gravitational meta-stable sweet spot to exist. It'll careen off into space if it moves too far off that spot. Even in a total eclipse, the sun's corona still peeks outside the umbra, which is why you have to worry about going blind if you stare straight at it.
