Wednesday October 7, 2009, 1:14 pm
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2014. JWST will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. JWST will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. JWST's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.

JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. Both the mirror and sunshade won't fit onto the rocket fully open, so both will fold up and open once JWST is in outer space. JWST will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth.

The James Webb Space Telescope was named after a former NASA Administrator.

For more information: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/about.html
ABOUT JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. Launch is planned for 2014. JWST will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.

JWST was formerly known as the "Next Generation Space Telescope" (NGST). JWST was renamed in Sept. 2002 after a former NASA administrator, James Webb.

FARETHEWELL HUBBLE YOU SERVED US WELL ... "GOING TO NEW FRONTIERS" !!!!!!!!


JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the development effort. The prime contractor is Northrop Grumman; the Space Telescope Science Institute will operate JWST after launch.

Several innovative technologies have been developed for JWST. These include a folding, segmented primary mirror, adjusted to shape after launch; ultra-lightweight beryllium optics; detectors able to record extremely weak signals, microshutters that enable programmable object selection for the spectrograph; and a cryocooler for cooling the mid-IR detectors to 7K. The long-lead items, such as the beryllium mirror segments and science instruments, are under construction. All mission enabling technologies were demonstrated by January 2007. In July 2008 NASA confirmed the JWST project to proceed into its implementation phase, and the project is currently on track to conduct its next major mission review in March 2010.

There will be four science instruments on JWST: a near-infrared (IR) camera, a near-IR multi-object spectrograph, a mid-IR instrument, and a tunable filter imager. JWST's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. It will be sensitive to light from 0.6 to 27 micrometers in wavelength.

JWST has four main science themes: The End of the Dark Ages: First Light and Reionization, The Assembly of Galaxies, The Birth of Stars and Protoplanetary Systems, and Planetary Systems and the Origins of Life.

Wednesday October 7, 2009, 1:37 pm
Oh now this is gonna be cool...

Big goirlly Hugs

Wednesday October 7, 2009, 2:48 pm
Thank you Rosemary.

Sunday October 11, 2009, 1:35 am
Thannnxxxx Rosie.. will we have to pre book our seats for this fantatsic display

Wednesday October 14, 2009, 6:15 am
To bad there isn't air up there we might be able to live torture free there..
But this was very interesting,
Thanks Rosemary