We are scientists and engineers testing NASA's James Webb Space
Telescope, which is the scientific successor to the Hubble, AMA!
Abstract
Hello! We are scientists and engineers working at NASA Goddard, and
leading the current testing on the James Webb Space Telescope in NASA
Johnson’s historic Chamber A. Why is this testing notable? Chamber A is
a giant thermal vacuum chamber, and our telescope is undergoing a
~100 day, end-to-end test at extremely cold
temperatures, in a space-like vacuum inside of it. We’ll answer
questions about why Webb has to perform in extreme cold, why NASA built
a giant, infrared telescope, and what cryogenic testing is all about.
We’ll be online for an hour or so on Thursday October 19th, at 1pm ET
for questions, and we will be checking back in periodically after the
Q&A for other questions. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) is
the world’s premier space telescope of the next decade. It will delve
deeper into our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other
stars, and help us to learn more about the universe and our place in it.
Webb is an international collaboration among NASA, the European Space
Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Answering your
questions: Mark Voyton: Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science
Instrument Module Manager Juli Lander: Deputy Optical Telescope Element
and Integrated Science Instrument Module Manager Randy Kimble:
Integration & Test Project Scientist Lee Feinberg: Optical Telescope
Element Manager & Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science
Instrument Module Technical Lead. ETA: We are about done for today - but
we’ll check back in tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the excellent
questions, we had a great time!