James Webb Space Telescope
Dr. Jonathan Gardner is the Deputy Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight...

Dr. Jonathan Gardner is the Deputy Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight...

Marcia Rieke, Regents’ Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona and principal investigator for the near-infrared camera on the...

Sandra Irish, lead structures engineer of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, was selected to receive the 2023 Society of Women...

Sandra Irish, lead structures engineer of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, was selected to receive the 2023 Society of Women...

FGS/NIRISS was built by the Canadian Space Agency.

JWST Team Photo with Completed Flight Instrument module

James Webb Space Telescope NIRSpec Upgrades Complete!

NIRSpec's microshutter cells, each approximately as wide as a human hair, have lids that open and close when a magnetic...

MIRI Engineering Diagram

JWST Team Photo with Completed Flight Instrument module

Installation of MIRI into the instrument module.

NIRCam Engineering Diagram

Group photo of JWST project members with the complete Integrated Science Instrument Module.

The flight Near-Infrared Camera was installed into the flight Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) for the James Webb Space Telescope.

The NIRCAM operates over a wavelength range of 0.6 to 5 microns.

This image shows what the The OTE Consists Of.

The OTIS (OTE+ISIM) out of cryovac chamber at NASA Johnson. The OTIS is an acronym that includes the OTE plus...

Engineering Diagram 4 Spacecraft bus"

Engineering Diagram 3 Spacecraft bus

Engineering Diagram 2 Spacecraft bus

Engineering Diagram 1 Spacecraft bus

At Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems facilities in Redondo Beach, Calif., integration and test technicians work on a mock-up of the...

This x-ray diagram of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows where the backplane support frame (BSF) is in relation to...

The Deployable Tower Array at the base of the telescope structure

The first mirror is installed on the flight telescope structure

Inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's giant clean room in Greenbelt, Md., JWST Optical Engineer Larkin Carey examines two test...

The Pathfinder about to be moved into Chamber A for cryo tests.

he completed primary mirror on the flight telescope structure at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The black covers on the...

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, emerged from Chamber A at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec....

Technicians complete the primary mirror backplane support structure wing assemblies for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at ATK's Space Components...

Engineers at ATK work on the now-completed center section of the "backplane" support structure that will hold Webb's mirror segments

Images from our exciting week in August - opening the shipping crate containing the James Webb Space Telescope's flight backplane,...

The flight structure of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was standing tall on a platform in the cleanroom at NASA's...

The back view of James Webb Telescope

A rare view of the instruments being lowered into the Webb telescope at NASA/Goddard. Webb's science instruments were installed in...

A piece of Kapton showing ripstop seaming.

The Sunshield on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the largest part of the observatory—five layers of thin membrane that...

The layers work together to reduce the temperatures between the hot and cold sides of the observatory by approximately 570...

Diagram of Cross-Section of Webbs Five-Layer Sunshield.

Stretched out like a silver kite, the five-layer sunshield for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits in a cleanroom at...

A team of engineers and technicians from NASA and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., prepare to load...

Engineers from Ball Aerospace inspect the first James Webb Space Telescope mirror segment upon its arrival at Marshall Space Flight...

The engineering design unit primary mirror segment (flight spare) coated in gold by Quantum Coating Incorporated.

An engineer stands in front of the gold-coated primary mirror EDU

The secondary mirror went through a similar process - here it is after being gold-coated by Quantum Coating Incorporated.

Technicians and scientists check out one of the Webb telescope's first two flight mirrors in the clean room at NASA's...

Four of the finished mirrors that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight...

Engineers and technicians moved the James Webb Space Telescope structure inside the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center...

Inside the massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope's telescope...

Inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team...

The gold-covered primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope, revealed in the cleanroom at NASA Goddard.

Here's a view from overhead of the golden James Webb Space Telescope, with its secondary mirror booms stowed. This is...

James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Seen in Full Bloom

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits inside Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after having completed its...

Primary Mirror Segment Engineering Design Unit

A James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror segment blank. This image shows the back of the mirror blank, which is...

The front of an unpolished mirror blank.

The Brush Wellman team and the mirror blanks.

A marble-sized piece of Beryllium.

These diagrams show the back of the mirrors and the actuators.

Diagram of the anatomy of a James Webb Space Telescope Mirror.

Each of Webb's mirrors has an individual designation. A, B, or C denotes which of the three mirror prescriptions a...

The different colors denote one of three different optical prescriptions for Webb's mirror.

The James Webb Space Telescope is shown with one of its two "wings" folded. Each wing holds three of its...

Engineers Matt Macias and Eve Woolridge take a close look at the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror at NASA...

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s high resolution, near-infrared look at Herbig-Haro 211 reveals exquisite detail of the outflow of a...

This artist’s concept shows what exoplanet K2-18 b could look like based on science data. K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6...

The world’s most powerful space science telescope has opened its primary mirror for the last time on Earth.

In a recent test, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its primary mirror into the same configuration it will...

During the sunshield folding process for the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of technicians carefully fold each layer in...

In a recent test, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope fully deployed its primary mirror into the same configuration it will...

What’s the best way to make a really powerful telescope? Build a big mirror! The James Webb Space Telescope has...

The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies....

This is a photo of one of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments coated with gold by Quantum...

Ball Aerospace optical technician Scott Murray inspects the first gold primary mirror segment, a critical element of NASA's James Webb...

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, or Webb, emerged from Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec....

On Saturday, Dec. 11, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will...

Webb is now in its final series of deployment and checkout tests before the observatory is packed for shipment to...

A fully assembled Webb Telescope, propped by support structures, takes up the space inside the Northrop Grumman cleanroom. In the...

With the completion of its latest series of milestone tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has now survived all of...

This is an archival image from October 2019, when technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by...

Technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to...

Technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to...

The flight structure of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was standing tall on a platform in the cleanroom at NASA's...

The most powerful and complex space telescope ever created by humankind has achieved its final form as a fully assembled...

This image was taken at Northrop Grumman. The optical portion of the telescope is complete, seen here, and is being...

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, is seen at the launch pad, Thursday, Dec. 23,...

As part of the NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s final tests, the 6.5 meter (21 feet 4 inch) mirror was...

Recently inside the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, engineers successfully completed two deployments for...

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, is seen in the final assembly building ahead of...

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch...

A technician examines the backplane pathfinder – a flight-like model of the center section of the Webb telescope backplane used...

James Webb Space Telescope Launch onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe’s Spaceport at the...

A wide field view showcases Jupiter in the upper right quadrant. The planet’s swirling horizontal stripes are rendered in blues,...

This image depicts a field of hundreds of galaxies of various shapes, colors and sizes. Most are small while a...

The eerie landscape is captured this time by the James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared instrument (MIRI). Mid-infrared light specializes in...

By combining images of the iconic Pillars of Creation from two cameras aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the universe...

NASA’s Webb Captures Dying Star’s Final ‘Performance’ in Fine Detail

The robotic arm lifts and lowers a golden James Webb Space Telescope flight spare primary mirror segment onto a test...

Humanity’s final look at the James Webb Space Telescope as it heads into deep space.

Inside a massive clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team...

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch...

Walk Out of the James Webb Space Telescope Secondary Mirror Support Structure

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun its stately rollout to the Arianespace ELA-3 launch complex at Europe’s Spaceport located...

The telescope is seen hanging from a crane, in the process of being moved over the sunshield.

Technicians and engineers working to ensure the soundness of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope manually lower its folded sunshield layers...

James Webb Space Telescope Assembled Observatory Full Mirror Deployment Test

On Friday 17 December, the Ariane 5 rocket fairing was closed around the James Webb Space Telescope. This protective fairing,...

James Webb Space Telescope on Launcher

Archival Image: Webb's Mirror in the Goddard Cleanroom

The James Webb Space Telescope Folds Its Wings

The James Webb Space Telescope is the first of its kind “open” style telescope that relies on innovative space shielding...

Engineers Matt Macias and Eve Woolridge take a close look at the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror at NASA...

The world’s most powerful space science telescope has opened its primary mirror for the last time on Earth.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured this light curve of the brightness of WASP-96 b’s parent star over time. As...

Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these “Cosmic Cliffs” are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb....

In the James Webb Space Telescope’s image of Stephan’s Quintet, we see 5 galaxies, 4 of which interact. (The left...

galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the...

Webb Space Telescope composited with a blue print of Webb and one of the first images of light to ever...

An artists concept montage of the Webb Space Telescope over a composited background of stars and galaxies.
