Media will have the opportunity to see the iconic golden mirror of NASAs James Webb Space Telescope open for the last time on Earth during a virtual briefing Tuesday, May 11, at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT). Officials from NASA and Northrop Grumman will discuss the significance of the mirrors deployment and next steps for the mission as it prepares for launch, which is targeted for Oct. 31. The event will air live via the following link:
https://northropgrumman.qumucloud.com/view/JWST#/
The worlds largest and most powerful space telescope, Webb opened its iconic primary mirror wings in May as part of the telescopes final testing regimen at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. The conclusion of this test represents an important milestone as Webb marches toward launch.
Briefing participants include:
- Greg Robinson, James Webb Space Telescope program director, NASA Headquarters
- Bill Ochs, James Webb Space Telescope project manager, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center
- Scott Willoughby, vice president and program manager, Northrop Grumman
- Begoa Vila, instrument systems engineer, Goddard
- Eric Smith, James Webb Space Telescope program scientist, NASA Headquarters
- Klaus Pontoppidan, project scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute
