Tag: james

Live from the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, experts from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will share a never-before-seen image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), talk about the telescope’s latest scientific discoveries, and share how JWST will continue to explore the uncharted territories of our cosmos.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA and the Canadian Space Agency, released its first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, 2022.

Participants include:

NASA Goddard Communications Team Lead for the James Webb Space Telescope Laura Betz

Astrophysicist and James Webb Space Telescope Deputy Project Scientist for Exoplanet Science Dr. Knicole Colón

Planetary Scientist and James Webb Space Telescope Deputy Project Scientist for Planetary Science Dr. Stefanie Milam

Astrophysicist and Deputy Project Scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications Dr. Amber Straughn

Thumbnail credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

James Webb Space Telescope experts give real-time updates on deployment of the telescope’s secondary mirror. The secondary mirror is one of the most important pieces of equipment on the telescope, and is essential to the success of the mission.

When deployed, this mirror will sit out in front of Webb’s hexagonal primary mirrors, which form an iconic honeycomb-like shape. This smaller circular mirror serves an important role in collecting light from Webb’s 18 primary mirrors into a focused beam. That beam is then sent down into the tertiary and fine steering mirrors, and finally to Webb’s four powerful scientific instruments.

About the mirrors: https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html
Where is Webb?: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

Credit: NASA

James Webb Space Telescope experts give real-time updates in the final stages of the telescope’s sunshield deployment. A major milestone, the successful shield tensioning will ensure Webb’s mirrors stay cold enough to #UnfoldTheUniverse.

The five-layer, tennis court-sized sunshield is a critical part of the telescope because the infrared cameras and instruments aboard must be kept very cold and out of the Sun’s heat and light to function properly.

About the sunshield: https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/sunshield.html
Where is Webb?: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

Credit: NASA

We don’t yet know what the James Webb Space Telescope will uncover. Will we get answers? Will we have more questions? One thing’s certain: The story of us is a never-ending quest for knowledge.

As Carl Sagan said: “We can’t help it.” #UnfoldTheUniverse

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov

Produced by Lindeman & Associates
Voice of Carl Sagan courtesy of Druyan-Sagan Associates, Inc., used with permission
Imagery courtesy of NASA and ESA, with Druyan-Sagan Associates, Inc., used with permission

Watch the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope—the most powerful space telescope ever made. This mission is scheduled to lift off at 7:20 a.m. EST (12:20 UTC), Dec. 24, 2021, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

With revolutionary technology, Webb will observe a part of space and time never seen before, providing a wealth of amazing views into an era when the very first stars and galaxies formed––over 13.5 billion years ago.

It can explore our own solar system’s residents with exquisite new detail and study the atmospheres of distant worlds. From new forming stars to devouring black holes, Webb will reveal all this and more! It’s the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope ever built.

Webb is an international collaboration between NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). Thousands of engineers and hundreds of scientists worked to make Webb a reality, along with over 300 universities, organizations, and companies from 29 U.S. states and 14 countries!

Ready to #UnfoldTheUniverse? The greatest origin story of all unfurls soon. Learn more at https://nasa.gov/jwst