NASA - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration

10/28/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/28/2021 07:57

NASA to Host Briefing on Webb Telescope Engineering, Deployments

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The James Webb Space Telescope is the premier space science observatory of the next decade. Thousands of parts must work correctly, in sequence, to unfold Webb into its final configuration, as it flies through space to a destination nearly one million miles away.

Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn

NASA will hold a virtual media briefing 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Nov. 2, to discuss the engineering of the James Webb Space Telescope, the world's largest and most powerful space science telescope. Participants will discuss how the observatory's science goals drove its design and preview the complex series of deployments Webb will complete as it unfolds in space.

The briefing will livestream on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's website.

The briefing participants are:

  • Bill Ochs, Webb project manager, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
  • Alphonso Stewart, Webb deployment systems lead, Goddard
  • Begoña Vila, Webb instrument systems engineer, Goddard
  • Krystal Puga, Webb spacecraft systems engineer, Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, California
  • Mike Menzel, Webb lead mission systems engineer, Goddard

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the briefing to Laura Betz at: [email protected] and Alise Fisher at: [email protected]. Media and members of the public may also ask questions on social media using #NASAWebb.

NASA's media accreditation policy for virtual and onsite activities is available online.

The James Webb Space Telescope, an international partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies, is targeted for launch Dec. 18. It will explore every phase of cosmic history - from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, and everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries, and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it.

For more information about the Webb mission, visit:

https://webb.nasa.gov

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Last Updated: Oct 28, 2021

Editor: Sean Potter