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NASA NTRS2008

Overview of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 micrometers to 28 micrometers. JWST's primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation and protoplanetary systems, and formation of evolution of planetary systems. We will review JWST's science goals and discuss recent progress in the design of JWST's observatory architecture following the completion of a key milestone, the Mission Preliminary Design Review (PDR). In particular we will discuss the status of JWST's optical system, progress in the primary mirror fabrication program, and the status of key observatory elements such as the sunshield. We will also address the current projected scientific performance of the observatory in the context of its science goals.

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2009

Status of The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 pm to 28 pm. JWST's primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. We will present an overview of the Observatory's current design following the Mission Preliminary Design Review, (PDR). Recent progress in hardware development for the observatory will be presented, including a discussion of the status of JWST's optical system and Beryllium mirror fabrication, progress with sunshield prototypes, and recent changes in the integration and test configuration. We also review the expected scientific performance of the observatory based on the mission PDR design.

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2008

Transit Imaging and Spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 microns to 28 microns. JWST's primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. Recent progress in hardware development for the observatory will be presented, including a discussion of the status of JWST's optical system and Beryllium mirror fabrication, progress with sunshield prototypes, and recent changes in the integration and test configuration. We also review the expected scientific performance of the observatory for observations of exosolar planets by means of transit imaging and spectroscopy. We will review the capabilities of each science instrument, and discuss the performance of each mode, with reference to current transiting systems.

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2009

Pathways Towards Habitable Planets: Capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2011

Status of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 J,Jm to 28 J,Jm. JWST's primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. JWST is a segmented mirror telescope operating at approx.40K, a temperature achieved by passive cooling of the observatory, via a large, 5-layer membrane-based sunshield. We present an overview of the observatory design, the mission science objectives, the integration and test program and review the concept for science operations of JWST. With construction of the observatory progressing rapidly across all elements of the observatory, we will report on recent highlights such as the completion of the first JWST primary mirror segment. We will also review the predicted performance of the JWST observatory, based on initial measurements of the telescope optics and instrumentation.

Champin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2011

Overview of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 microns to 28 microns. JWST's primary science goals are to detect and characterize the first galaxies, and study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. JWST is a segmented mirror telescope operating at approx.40K, a temperature achieved by passive cooling of the observatory, via a large, 5-layer membrane-based sunshield. We will review the scientific capabilities of JWST in the context of their synergy with survey facilities, and with the next generation of ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes. We will also present an overview of the observatory design, and report on recent progress in the construction of the observatory and its science instruments.

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2012

Overview of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large aperture (6.5 meter), cryogenic space telescope with a suite of near and mid-infrared instruments covering the wavelength range of 0.6 microns to 28 microns. JWST's primary science goal is to detect and characterize the first galaxies. It will also study the assembly of galaxies, star formation, protoplanetary systems, and the formation of evolution of planetary systems. We will review recent progress in the design of JWST' s observatory architecture leading up to JWST's recent Mission Preliminary Design Review (PDR). In particular, we will discuss the status of JWST's optical system, the current status of the telescope mirror fabrication effort, the final design of the observatory sunshield and the plans for integration and test. In this context, we will discuss the expected scientific performance of the observatory.

Clampin, Mark↗

NASA NTRS1985

Space telescope

This paper describes the Space Telescope, a program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful optical and ultraviolet astronomical observatory to be operated in space. Through the remote eyes of this telescope, astronomers will look further into space and time to produce data including imagery of unequaled quality of galaxies, star systems, quasars and other objects of scientific interest. The Space Telescope will do this by observing the sky from a nominal 550 kilometer low earth orbit via an optical system with a 2.4 meter diameter primary mirror. Additionally, this observatory has a precision pointing control system that is capable of maintaining a locked state on an object for extended periods accurately to within 0.01 arc seconds. The observatory instrument complement, optical system and pointing control system is presented.

Wojtalik, F. S.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Optical Communications Study for the Next Generation Space Telescope

The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), part of NASA's Origins program, is a follow on to the Hubble Space Telescope expected to provide timely new science along with answering fundamental questions. NGST is a large diameter, infrared optimized telescope with imaging and spectrographic detectors which will be used to help study the origin of galaxies. Due to the large data NGST will collect, Goddard Space Flight Center has considered the use of optical communications for data downlink. The Optical Communications Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has performed a study on optical communications systems for NGST. The objective of the study was to evaluate the benefits gained through the use of optical communication technologies. Studies were performed for each of four proposed NGST orbits. The orbits considered were an elliptical orbit about the semi stable second Lagrangian point, a 1 by 3 AU elliptic orbit around the sun, a 1 AU drift orbit, and a 1 AU drift orbit at a 15 degree incline to the ecliptic plane. An appropriate optical communications system was determined for each orbit. Systems were evaluated in terms of mass, power consumption, size, and cost for each of the four proposed orbits.

Ceniceros, Juan M.↗

NASA NTRS2023

The Design, Verification and Performance of the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is NASA’s flagship mission successor to the highly successful Hubble Space Telescope. It is an infrared observatory featuring a cryogenic 6.6 m aperture, deployable Optical Telescope Element (OTE) with a payload of four science instruments (SIs) assembled into an Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) that provide imagery and spectroscopy in the near-infrared band between 0.6 and 5 μm and in the mid-infrared band between 5 and 28.1 μm. JWST was successfully launched on 2021 December 25 aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. All 50 major deployments were successfully completed on 2022 January 8. The observatory performed all midcourse correction maneuvers and achieved its operational mission orbit around the Sun–Earth second Lagrange point (L2). All commissioning and calibration activities have been completed, and JWST has begun its science mission. This paper will provide a description of the driving requirements and their technical challenges, the engineering processes involved in the design formulation, the resulting observatory design, the verification programs that proved it to be flightworthy, and the measured on-orbit performance of the observatory. Since companion papers will describe the details of the OTE and SIs, this paper will concentrate on describing the key features of the observatory architecture that accommodates these elements, particularly those features and capabilities associated with accommodating the radiometric and image-quality performance.

Galaxy evolution↗

NASA NTRS2008

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope is being developed by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies for launch during 2013. This mission is expected to carry the legacy of discovery of the Hubble Space Telescope through the next decade, and is designed with unique capability to address key questions about formation of the first galaxies after the Big Bang, their subseque~let volution, and the formation of stars and planets within our own galaxy. This talk will present an overview of the mission science objectives and the status of the mission development.

Greenhouse, Matthew↗

NASA NTRS2016

Titan Science with the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled for launch in 2018, is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) but with a signicantly larger aperture (6.5 m) and advanced instrumentation focusing on infrared science (0.6-28.0 microns). In this paper, we examine the potential for scientic investigation of Titan using JWST, primarily with three of the four instruments: NIRSpec, NIRCam, and MIRI, noting that science with NIRISS will be complementary. Five core scientic themes are identied: (1) surface (2) tropospheric clouds (3) tropospheric gases (4) stratospheric composition, and (5) stratospheric hazes. We discuss each theme in depth, including the scientic purpose, capabilities, and limitations of the instrument suite and suggested observing schemes. We pay particular attention to saturation, which is a problem for all three instruments, but may be alleviated for NIRCam through use of selecting small sub-arrays of the detectorssufcient to encompass Titan, but with signicantly faster readout times. We nd that JWST has very signicant potential for advancing Titan science, with a spectral resolution exceeding the Cassini instrument suite at near-infrared wavelengths and a spatial resolution exceeding HST at the same wavelengths. In particular, JWST will be valuable for time-domain monitoring of Titan, given a ve- to ten-year expected lifetime for the observatory, for example, monitoring the seasonal appearance of clouds. JWST observations in the post-Cassini period will complement those of other large facilities such as HST, ALMA, SOFIA, and next-generation ground-based telescopes (TMT, GMT, EELT).

Nixon, Conor A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Space Telescope Systems Description Handbook

The objective of the Space Telescope Project is to orbit a high quality optical 2.4-meter telescope system by the Space Shuttle for use by the astronomical community in conjunction with NASA. The scientific objectives of the Space Telescope are to determine the constitution, physical characteristics, and dynamics of celestial bodies; the nature of processes which occur in the extreme physical conditions existing in stellar objects; the history and evolution of the universe; and whether the laws of nature are universal in the space-time continuum. Like ground-based telescopes, the Space Telescope was designed as a general-purpose instrument, capable of utilizing a wide variety of scientific instruments at its focal plane. This multi-purpose characteristic will allow the Space Telescope to be effectively used as a national facility, capable of supporting the astronomical needs for an international user community and hence making contributions to man's needs. By using the Space Shuttle to provide scientific instrument upgrading and subsystems maintenance, the useful and effective operational lifetime of the Space Telescope will be extended to a decade or more.

Carter, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be a large (6m) cold (50K) telescope launched to the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point. It is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, and is a partnership of NASA, ESA and CSA. It's science goals are to detect and identify the first galaxies to form in the universe, to trace their assembly into the Hubble Sequence, and to study stellar and planetary system formation. JWST will have three instruments: The Near InfiaRed Camera (NIRCam) and the Near InfraRed multiobject Spectrometer (NIRSpec) will cover the wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns, and the Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) will do both imaging and spectroscopy from 5 to 28 microns.

Gardner, Jonathan P.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Space environmental effects observed on the Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Repair Mission of December, 1993, was first and foremost a mission to improve the performance of the observatory. But for a specialized segment of the aerospace industry, the primary interest is in the return to Earth of numerous pieces of the HST hardware, pieces which have been replaced, repaired, improved, or superseded. The returned hardware is of interest because of the information it potentially carries about the effects of exposure to the space environment for three and a half years. Like the LDEF retrieval mission four years ago, the HST repair mission is of interest to many engineering disciplines, including all of the disciplines represented by the LDEF Special Investigation Groups (SIG's). There is particular interest in the evaluation of specific materials and systems in the returned components. Some coated surfaces have been processed with materials which are newer and still in use by, or under consideration for, other spacecraft in a variety of stages of development. Several of the systems are being returned because a specific failure or anomaly has been observed and thus there is, at the outset, a specific investigative trail that needs to be followed. These systems are much more complex than those flown on LDEF and, in two instances, comprised state-of-the-art science instruments. Further, the parts used in these systems generally were characterized more rigorously prior to flight than were those in the LDEF systems, and thus post flight testing may yield more significant results.

Edelman, Joel E.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Super-size space telescope

A class of space telescopes for astronomical observations with a resolution and collecting capability more than one order of magnitude better than what is expected from the 2.4 m Space Telescope is discussed. To this purpose aplanatic two-mirror systems of coplanar primary/secondary mirror arrangements with approximately 45 deg angles of incidence and an overall diameter of about 100 m have been designed and analyzed. The main advantages of these systems are their compactness and the associated minimization of the moment of inertia in two axes. Two opposing secondary arrangements, one forward-reflecting and the other backward-reflecting are analyzed and compared.

Korsch, D.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Observing Comet Halley with Space Telescope

The NASA Space Telescope (ST) to be launched into LEO by STS in late 1985 is characterized, and its potential use for observations of Comet Halley shortly after the perihelion passage in February, 1986, is discussed. The ST comprises a 2.4-m MgF2-coated primary reflector (with maximum field of view 2.7 x 2.7 arcmin, wavelength coverage 120-1100 nm, and maximum tracking rate 0.21 arcsec/sec) and five first-generation scientific instruments (wide-field planetary camera, faint-object camera, high-resolution and faint-object spectrographs, and high-speed photometer). Planned ST observations of Halley include periods of continuous observation much longer than can be obtained from the ground, provision of supplementary data and navigation information to Giotto and other deep-space missions, emission spectroscopy, UV polarimetry, and possible detection of 124-nm H2O absorption. Before March 11, 1986, earth occultation or similar procedures will be required to observe Halley because it will be within the ST 50-deg solar-elongation-distance limit.

Caldwell, J.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Status of the James Webb Space Telescope Observatory

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest cryogenic, space telescope ever built, and will address a broad range of scientific goals from first light in the universe and re-ionization, to characterization of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets. Recently, significant progress has been made in the construction of the observatory with the completion of all 21 flight mirrors that comprise the telescope's optical chain, and the start of flight instrument deliveries to the Goddard Space Flight Center. In this paper we discuss the design of the observatory, and focus on the recent milestone achievements in each of the major observatory sub-systems.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)↗