Conference Proceeding

Status of the James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Perrin, Marshall D, Rigby, Jane R, Stark, Christopher C, Mather, John C, McElwain, Michael W, Knight, J Scott, Feinberg, Lee D, Niedner, Malcolm B, Bowers, Charles W, Smith, Erin C, Kimble, Randy A

2021

Overview

The James Webb Space Telescope ( Webb) is the largest space telescope realized to-date, with a 6.5 m segmented primary mirror that must be folded to fit within its Ariane 5 launcher fairing. This infrared telescope is passively cooled using a five-layer sunshield that will keep the optical telescope and its four science instruments in the shade throughout the lifetime of the mission in an L2 orbit. Webb's science instruments include near- and mid­ infrared imagers and spectrometers that cover the spectral range from 0.6-28.5 µm. The Webb mission has a long history with numerous first of its kind technology developments, ground support equipment innovations, and algorithmic characterization advances. This conference proceeding summarizes the technical progress over the past two years, from the Spacecraft Element environmental testing to the Observatory integration and testing, and the final Observatory test plans leading up to launch, on-orbit commissioning, and science operations.

• Publisher: NASA/Langley Research Center
• Subject: Ariane launch vehicle / Astronomical instruments / Environmental testing / Ground support equipment / Infrared spectrometers / Infrared telescopes / James Webb Space Telescope / Launch vehicles / Observatories / Primary mirrors / Space telescopes / Spacecraft