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| In 1996, an 18-member committee headed by
astronomer Alan Dressler recommended that NASA
develop a space telescope to succeed
the Hubble Space Telescope.
The committee was specific about what the telescope
should do. The panel envisioned an observatory that
would let us view the heavens in infrared light — the
wavelength band that enables us see through dust and
gas clouds and extends our vision farther out into
space and time — and one that would operate in an
orbit well past Earth’s Moon.
It would have an aperture with a diameter greater than 4 meters, giving it greater sensitivity to light and the ability to see farther into space than previous telescopes.
In the spring and summer of 1996, three teams made up of scientists and engineers from the private and public sectors met to determine whether NASA could realize the committee’s vision. All three came to the conclusion that the proposed telescope, tentatively named the Next Generation Space Telescope, would be feasible and would far surpass Hubble’s sensitivity. Buoyed by these findings, NASA agreed in 1997 to fund additional studies to further refine the technical and financial requirements for building the telescope. In 2002 NASA selected TRW/Ball Aerospace as the main industrial partners to build the telescope. TRW, bought by Northrop Grumman, became Northrop Grumman Space Technology soon afterward. At the same time the name of the telescope was changed from Next Generation Space Telescope to the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA also selected in 2002 the teams to build the instruments and the Science Working Group, a group of astronomers giving guidance in constructing the telescope. |
JWSTsite Links: (PDF File) External Links:  |
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