N° 20–2022: Call for Media: Preparing the James Webb Space Telescope for science operations
5 May 2022
NASA and partners will hold a media teleconference at 11:00 EDT / 17:00 CEST on Monday 9 May, to discuss progress towards preparing the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for science operations. The agency will livestream audio of the teleconference on its website.
Webb will explore every phase of cosmic history – from within the Solar System to the most distant observable galaxies in the early Universe, and everything in between.
Participants from the partner agencies will discuss the recent completion of mirror alignment and preview what to expect for Webb’s final months of science instrument preparations.
The Webb telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 25 December 2021 on its exciting mission to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
Webb is designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy.
The major contributions of ESA to the mission are: the NIRSpec instrument; the MIRI instrument optical bench assembly; the provision of the launch services; and personnel to support mission operations. In return for these contributions, European scientists will get a minimum share of 15% of the total observing time, like for the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Webb’s partners are ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Event programme
Teleconference participants include:
- Michael McElwain, Webb observatory project scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
- Christopher Evans, Webb project scientist, European Space Agency
- Jean Dupuis, space astronomy senior mission scientist, Canadian Space Agency
- Marcia Rieke, principal investigator for Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera and regents professor of astronomy, University of Arizona
- Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute
Media registration
To ask questions during the teleconference, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the event to Laura Betz at: laura.e.betz@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
Further information
Brochure: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_Publications/ESA_BR-348_Webb_Seeing_farther
Launch kit: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/James_Webb_Space_Telescope_launch_kit
More information about ESA: www.esa.int
More information on NASA website : https://nasa.govwebb
Images
Images of Webb
Webb launch campaign on Flickr
Images of Ariane 5
Set of images for print or projection: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Exhibitions/Webb
Terms and conditions for using ESA images:
www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images
For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int.
Videos
Webb videos
Webb animations, footage for professionals
Webb launch campaign B-rolls
Terms and conditions for using ESA videos: https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions
For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int
Social media
Follow ESA on:
Twitter:@esa Webb, @esascience @esa,
Instagram: @Europeanspaceagency, @esawebb
Facebook: @EuropeanSpaceAgency, @esawebb
YouTube: ESA
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA
Pinterest: European Space Agency – ESA
About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania are Associate Members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with six Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.
Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int
For further information:
ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office – Ninja Menning
Email: media@esa.int
Tel: +31 71 565 6409