- Home
- Agencies
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- General Services Administration
- Department of Commerce
- Department of the Interior
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Department of Defense
- Department of Justice
- National Science Foundation
- Department of Education
- Department of Labor
- Office of Personnel Management
- Department of Energy
- Department of State
- Small Business Administration
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Department of Transportation
- Social Security Administration
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of the Treasury
- U.S. Agency for International Development
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Goals
- Initiatives
- Programs
Primary tabs
Dr. Eric P. SmithProgram DirectorScience Mission Directorate, James Webb Space Telescope Program Office
FY 14-15: Agency Priority Goal
Launch the James Webb Space Telescope.
Priority Goal
Goal Overview
The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) Program will produce an astronomical observatory capable of watching the universe light up after the Big Bang. It will revolutionize humankind's understanding of the Cosmos and our place in it. This observatory is key for meeting NASA's strategic objective to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars. Webb is NASA's new telescope that will allow us to explore deeper into space and see things that even the Hubble Space Telescope cannot see. Webb's new technologies, like those developed for the backplane components, are critical to the mission's success.
The Webb observatory has a deployable, segmented primary mirror made up of 18 hexagonal mirrors. When combined into a single structure, these computer-controlled mirrors will form a single crisp image. To form these sharp images, the mirror segments must be firmly held by an extremely rigid and stable structure known as the primary mirror backplane. This backplane can be thought of as a skeleton on which we hang the mirror segments. The backplane support structure attaches to the primary mirror backplane and holds the science instrument module. The science instrument module contains the observatory's cameras and spectrographs. The backplane support structure provides a rigid and thermally stable platform to guarantee that the science instruments and telescope mirror stay in perfect alignment.
The construction of the primary mirror backplane and backplane support structure is the pacing item in the schedule for the telescope. Keeping these items on schedule is vital to keeping Webb on track for its planned October 2018 launch. From now through FY 2015, the parts of the backplane (center section, wings, backplane support fixture, and test equipment) will undergo their final phases of manufacturing and testing before being assembled into a single unit. This single unit will be delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Once the completed unit is available, NASA will place the 18 mirror segments into the backplane.
Following the completion of the telescope, the Webb program will embark on the next major integration and test portion of its schedule. In 2016, the program will begin the integration of the telescope with the science instrument module (denoted as Optical Telescope plus Integrated Science instrument module: OTIS). Also in 2016, the spacecraft will begin its integration steps. In 2017, NASA will complete the OTIS testing. The spacecraft and sunshield will be integrated and tested in 2017. Finally, in 2018, the complete integration of the observatory will occur, joining the OTIS and the spacecraft in preparation for their launch in October.
Strategies
In order to monitor progress of the Webb APG the program employs earned value management (EVM) practices, detailed tracking of lower level milestones that lead up to the APG, as well as schedule health assessments. The project receives monthly EVM and schedule health reports that detail how the work is progressing with respect to the plan and budget. The project manager can apply unallocated future expense funding or allocate some of the project's funded schedule reserve should it be necessary to ensure progress towards this APG.
Members of the Webb Standing Review Board (SRB) participate in key reviews for the elements of this APG. These SRB subject matter experts will provide independent assessments of the project's readiness to support the next activities along the APG schedule. Examples of such reviews include the Primary Mirror Backplane Support System Cryo Cycle Test Readiness in August of 2013 or the OTE Deployment Review in June of 2014.
Several of the milestones along the path towards this APG are designated as "headquarters milestones" and are tracked and reported monthly to the NASA Associate Administrator. These milestones are also reported externally to stakeholders within the Administration (OMB and OSTP) and Congress.
The most uncertain external parameter that could substantially affect NASA's ability to demonstrate progress along the path to this APG is the year-to-year funding levels appropriated by Congress. Should the 2011 replan budget figures in any year not be provided the project will be challenged to meet its milestones. The NASA and industry facilities needed for this APG have already been dedicated to Webb during the schedule period so we do not anticipate any facilities access related issues, unless enacted budgets for NASA lead to insufficient funding for such facilities.
Progress Update
The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) Program achieved its priority goal, the delivery of the completed telescope structure (flight backplane) from Northrop-Grumman to NASA, on schedule in August 2015. Along the way toward this critical milestone, NASA completed all of its intermediate (quarterly) goals on or ahead of schedule. Below are some of the highlights from these quarterly goals, as well as select others.
In early 2014, Webb completed its spacecraft Critical Design Review. This review was the final major design review for the program, and demonstrated that the design of the spacecraft element (spacecraft bus and sunshield) was mature enough to proceed to production.
As it made progress toward delivering the flight backplane, the Webb program completed the Pathfinder Telescope (or “Pathfinder”), comprised of a flight-like telescope center section, two mirror segments and a secondary mirror. That Pathfinder has subsequently undergone two successful cryovacuum tests at the Johnson Space Center and has provided important lessons for when the flight telescope and science instruments are tested there.
The science instruments have undergone a second cryovacuum test at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Several hardware elements (including the heat straps and sensor chips for one of the instruments) were found to be operating suboptimally and replaced after the test. Uncovering issues is precisely the point of hardware testing. The science instruments with updated hardware are now undergoing their third and final cryovacuum test before being mated to the telescope. Program reserves and funded schedule reserve are held in order to keep the total program within its appropriated budget and on track for the October 2018 launch. Webb is still well within its cost and schedule reserves to meet its planned launch date.
A particularly challenging technical element of the mission, a cryocooler for one of the science instruments, presented the program with problems during the performance period. Webb was able to absorb the cost and schedule impacts of the cryocooler. These manufacturing problems have been overcome, and the flight system is now undergoing acceptance testing and is performing well.
The Webb Program continues to be an agency priority goal for the FY 2016-FY 2017 reporting cycle. Over this period, NASA plans to complete science instrument testing, populate the telescope structure with mirrors, join the instruments and telescope together, and deliver the combination for testing prior to joining them with the spacecraft.
Next Steps
No Data Available
This Priority Goal is most appropriately measured by milestones, which are scheduled events signifying the completion of a major deliverable or a phase of work. Progress on this Priority Goal can be seen by clicking on the Next Steps tab.
Contributing Programs & Other Factors
Within NASA, the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) Program is the principal contributor to the goal. Space Communications and Navigation also contributes to the goal.
Webb is an international collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). ESA is providing the Ariane Launch Vehicle and some of the scientific instruments, including the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Mid-Infrared Instrument; and CSA is providing the Fine Guidance Sensor, which will enable Webb to point precisely, so that it can obtain high-quality images. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) is the main NASA industrial contractor, responsible for building the optical telescope, spacecraft bus, and sunshield, and preparing the observatory for launch. NGAS is leading a team including three major sub-contractors: Ball Aerospace, ITT Exelis, and Alliant Techsystems.
Expand All
Strategic Goals
Strategic Goal:
Expand the space frontier.
Statement:
Expand the frontiers of knowledge, capability, and opportunity in space.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Expand human presence into the solar system and to the surface of Mars to advance exploration, science, innovation, benefits to humanity, and international collaboration.
Description:
Over the next decades, NASA intends to erase the boundaries to human exploration of space. We want to open new frontiers beyond low Earth orbit to humankind. NASA is expanding human exploration by developing the capability to transport humans to and from deep space, enabling the exploration of other planets and asteroids within our solar system using innovative, advanced technologies.
As a starting point, exploring deep space requires the capability to transport cargo and crew beyond low Earth orbit, or farther than 2,000 kilometers beyond Earth. NASA is developing a new transportation system that includes a crew capsule, a heavy-lift launch vehicle, and supporting ground facilities and systems.
NASA is developing technologies to enable the additional capabilities that will be required the farther away from Earth we travel. These include the capabilities for in-space propulsion, in-space operations, long-duration habitation, and other systems to support humans in hostile environments. Precursor robotics, robotic missions that investigate candidate destinations and provide vital information to prepare for human explorers, will lay the groundwork for humans to achieve new milestones in deep space.
The capability to transport humans to and from deep space will leverage incremental development of exploration capabilities that seed future discoveries and innovation, and eventually lead to creation of a permanent, long-term human space presence in the solar system. Our exploration of deep space will reward us with new knowledge. While new knowledge increases our understanding of our planet, our solar system, our universe, and ourselves, Americans expect tangible benefits and applications that we can use on Earth. If the past is prologue, scientists and entrepreneurs will generate new uses for the knowledge and technology resulting from NASA’s investments in exploration systems, and this in turn will grow the U.S. economy.
Statement:
Conduct research on the International Space Station (ISS) to enable future space exploration, facilitate a commercial space economy, and advance the fundamental biological and physical sciences for the benefit of humanity.
Description:
NASA’s contribution to society starts with scientific and technological achievement, but extends much further. We are using our resources to spur exploration as well as the new and robust commercial space market. The continued operation of the ISS is critical to achieving NASA’s and the Nation’s goals in science, technology, and human spaceflight. The ISS is the world’s only orbiting, microgravity research and development (R&D) laboratory where researchers may perform multidisciplinary research and technology development to prepare for our exploration of the solar system. Results of research projects will continue to yield benefits in areas such as human health, telemedicine, physical science, Earth observations, space science, and education programs that inspire future scientists, engineers, and space explorers. The Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), is the sole manager of the ISS National Laboratory, which is a portion of the ISS, and is working to maximize use of the ISS for research in space. The Administration’s decision to extend ISS operations until at least 2024 will allow us to maximize its potential and maintain American leadership in space.
The ISS is proving to be a catalyst for the growing commercial space enterprise, as well as a critical springboard for our future space exploration goals. NASA is buying hundreds of millions of dollars of cargo flights from new commercial launch services providers. With the collaboration of five space agencies, 15 nations, and private companies, the ISS is a model for cooperation on future human space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit.
Statement:
Facilitate and utilize U.S. commercial capabilities to deliver cargo and crew to space.
Description:
Partnerships with American industry to enable U.S. commercial crew transportation to low Earth orbit will stimulate a commercial industry, promote job growth, and expand knowledge, as well as supply the ISS. NASA envisions commercial human spaceflight to low Earth orbit becoming a robust, vibrant, profit-making commercial enterprise with many providers and a wide range of private and public users. Our role in this enterprise is to provide expertise, incentives, and opportunities to the emerging human space flight industry. We will purchase transportation services to meet our International Space Station crew rotation and emergency return obligations. A vibrant, job-creating, profit-making transportation system for humans and cargo to low Earth orbit will significantly contribute to the national economy.
Statement:
Understand the Sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system, including space weather.
Description:
The domain of heliophysics ranges from the interior of the Sun, to the upper atmosphere and near-space environment of Earth (above 50 kilometers), and outward to a region far beyond Pluto where the Sun’s influence wanes against the forces of interstellar space. Earth and the other planets of our solar system reside in this vast extended atmosphere of the Sun, called the heliosphere, which is made of electrified and magnetized matter entwined with penetrating radiation and energetic particles. To increase our understanding of the heliopshere, we seek to answer fundamental questions about this system’s behavior: What causes the Sun to vary? How do geospace, planetary space environments, and the heliosphere respond? What are the impacts to humanity?
The emerging science of interplanetary space weather is crucial to NASA’s human and robotic exploration objectives beyond Earth’s orbit. Humans are presently confined to low Earth orbit, where the planetary magnetic field and the body of Earth itself provide substantial protection against solar storms. Eventually, though, astronauts will travel to distant places where natural shielding is considerably less. Our new long-term exploration initiatives directly rely on our ability to successfully understand, predict, and mitigate impacts of interplanetary space weather.
Statement:
Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere.
Description:
Planetary science continues to expand our knowledge of the solar system, with active missions and Earth-based research programs exploring all the way from Mercury to Pluto and beyond. We seek to answer fundamental questions: How did our solar system form and evolve? Is there life beyond Earth? What are the hazards to life on Earth?
Robotic exploration is the principal method we use to explore the solar system, and is an essential precursor to human exploration of space. Ground based observations, experiments, theoretical work, and analysis of extraterrestrial materials supplement our space-based assets. Each progression from flybys, to orbiting spacecraft, to landers and rovers, to sample return missions helps advance our understanding of the formation of planetary bodies, the chemical and physical history of the solar system, and the conditions that are capable of sustaining life. The successful Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity, for example, is allowing us to explore the potential habitats for past life on Mars.
Our investment in planetary science helps us protect Earth by identifying and characterizing celestial bodies and environments that may pose threats to our planet. Further, planetary science programs add to the pool of knowledge necessary for future human exploration missions. In support of the Asteroid Grand Challenge, we will enhance our Near Earth Objects Observation program to improve the detection and characterization of potential asteroid candidates for robotic and crewed exploration.
Statement:
Discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars.
Description:
NASA leads the Nation and the world on a continuing journey to answer profound questions: How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone? The scope of astrophysics is truly breathtaking, ranging from the birth of the universe and the development of stars and galaxies over cosmic time, to the search for life on planets around other stars.
NASA’s astrophysics missions explore the extreme physical conditions of the universe and study the building blocks of our own existence at the most basic level: the space, time, matter, and energy that created the universe. Our telescopes have already measured the current age of the universe to be about 13.7 billion years and have uncovered remarkable new phenomena, such as the mysterious dark energy that dominates the universe. In the future, they will probe the origin and destiny of the universe, including the first moments of the Big Bang and the nature of black holes, dark energy, dark matter, and gravity.
We seek to understand the origin and evolution of the universe, as well as understand the processes for life on other planets. NASA’s observatories allow astronomers to explore the processes of formation of stars, galaxies, and planets. We have observed star formation occurring when the universe was at only a few percent its current age. The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow us to uncover the mysteries of star formation at an even earlier age, as well as study in detail planets around other stars.
We are navigating a voyage of unprecedented scope and ambition: seeking to discover and study planets orbiting around other stars and to explore whether they could harbor life. NASA’s astrophysics missions, in conjunction with ground-based telescopes, have already confirmed the existence of over 2,000 extrasolar planets. Of even greater interest, we are now finding that there are many small, rocky extrasolar planets where liquid water could exist. In the future, NASA’s telescopes will continue this breathtaking journey, discovering new planets and observing signatures that could indicate possibilities for life.
Statement:
Transform NASA missions and advance the Nation’s capabilities by maturing crosscutting and innovative space technologies.
Description:
NASA invests in cross-cutting, transformational space technologies that have high potential for offsetting mission risk, reducing costs, and advancing existing capabilities, which makes achieving more challenging missions possible. These technologies enable a new class of space missions; strengthen our Nation’s leadership in space-related science, technology, and industrial base; and foster a technology-based U.S. economy.
Drawing on talent from our workforce, academia, small business, and the broader space enterprise, NASA delivers innovative solutions that dramatically improve technological capabilities for our mission and the Nation. Development and infusion of these new capabilities improves the reliability of future missions and is vital to reaching new heights in space and sending American astronauts to new destinations, such as an asteroid or Mars.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, NASA will complete the Space Launch System, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems Critical Design Reviews (CDRs), allowing the programs to continue to progress toward Exploration Mission (EM)-1 and EM-2 missions.
Description:
NASA is developing the nation’s first human deep-space exploration capability in the form of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion crew vehicle. With the supporting Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), the SLS and Orion will carry humans farther into space than ever before, and are essential for exploration of deep space, including future human exploration of Mars. Human space exploration inspires the nation to seek knowledge through scientific discovery, advancing our understanding of the universe. As the foundation of the human exploration endeavor which will drive the Space Economy, these programs are fueling the creation of new industries, job growth, and the demand for a highly skilled workforce. NASA’s human exploration portfolio will be the initial catalyst for a better life on Earth, advancing American leadership in space, and creating a path for peace, diplomacy, and global cooperation.
NASA’s first flight of the SLS with the Orion crew vehicle, the EM-1, is currently targeted for launch in FY 2018. The EM-1 is the first flight of an uncrewed mission that will orbit the Moon and return safely to Earth. The EM-1 flight will exercise multiple systems and technical approaches in preparation for a crewed mission. To successfully achieve the goal of launching EM-1 in FY 2018, the SLS launch vehicle, Orion spacecraft and EGS programs will complete several significant design reviews as well as test flight and ground hardware and software prior to launch. The successful completion of these milestones, in conjunction with the final assembly and test of the launch vehicle and spacecraft hardware at the Kennedy Space Center launch site, will enable the successful launch of the EM-1 flight. By the end of FY 2015, all three programs-SLS, Orion and EGS-will have completed their individual Critical Design Reviews (CDRs), ensuring the whole exploration system progresses toward the EM-1 flight in FY 2018.
The SLS program CDR is the culmination of the various SLS elements’ final design reviews and will be held by the end of FY 2015. The program CDR will assess the ability of the overall launch vehicle design to meet the mission requirements with acceptable risk and appropriate margins within the defined cost, schedule and technical constraints.
Similar to the SLS, the Orion program CDR will be the culmination of several more detailed reviews. Critical flight data from the Exploration Flight Test-1 mission, the first Orion test flight to be launched in 2014, will provide information to finalize the design of the Orion spacecraft. Additionally, one of the final design reviews will focus on the Service Module, which will be developed for NASA by the European Space Agency (ESA). NASA is leveraging its strong international partnership with ESA-established in the development of the International Space Station (ISS). ESA will provide the European Service Module, a critical Orion element, in support of the first integrated test flight on the SLS launch vehicle, EM-1 in FY 2018. The Orion program CDR will assess the ability of the overall spacecraft design to meet the mission requirements with acceptable risk and appropriate margins within the defined cost, schedule and technical constraints.
The Exploration Ground Systems program CDR will be the culmination of several system-level final design reviews. For example, the mobile launcher (ML), which will provide all of the necessary ground system connections and services to the SLS launch vehicle and Orion spacecraft, will complete structural modifications by the end of this goal. After the structural modifications are complete, additional modifications of the ML will continue through FY 2017. The EGS program CDR will assess the ability of the overall ground systems designs in meeting the mission requirements with acceptable risk and appropriate margins within the defined cost, schedule and technical constraints.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, NASA will increase the utilization of the International Space Station internal and external research facility sites with science and technology payload hardware to 70 percent.
Description:
The continued operation of the International Space Station (ISS) is critical to achieving NASA’s and the Nation’s goals in science, technology, and human spaceflight. The ISS is a world-renowned research and development laboratory performing multidisciplinary research in science and technology benefiting humanity and enabling exploration of the universe. The ISS is also proving to be a catalyst to the growing commercial space enterprise, and is a critical springboard for our future space exploration goals.
NASA’s goal is to increase utilization of the ISS to conduct scientific research; for exploration related technology development; and to foster commercial investment in space. As an operational and multi-disciplinary research laboratory, with research coming from a wide variety of sources, it is important to characterize how the laboratory is being used and progress toward maximizing utilization of the laboratory.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, the Commercial Crew Program will complete the first phase of certification efforts with Commercial Crew Transportation partners, and will make measurable progress toward the second certification phase with industry partners while maintaining competition.
Description:
The Commercial Crew Program is helping facilitate the development of U.S. commercial crew space transportation capabilities with the goal of achieving safe, reliable, and cost effective access to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station (ISS). Enabling a U.S. industry-based capability can facilitate development of a commercial market, providing new high-technology jobs and reduce the cost of human access to space. A successful commercial market will further open the frontier for space exploration.
NASA is focused on ensuring that the current phase of crew system development, the Commercial Crew integrated Capability, (CCiCap), is successful at maturing the system designs and completing initial testing. Under CCiCap, U.S. space industry partners are working to mature designs of their integrated crew transportation systems, including spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground and mission systems.
In December 2012, NASA initiated the first phase of crew transportation systems certification by awarding three Certification Products Contracts (CPC). Under CPC, commercial partners are working with NASA to develop products that meet the agency's flight safety and performance requirements and specifications. This includes certification across all aspects of the integrated system, including the spacecraft, launch vehicle, and ground and mission operations. Integrated system verification plans, hazard reports, alternate standards and certification plans are being developed to ensure safe, crewed missions to and from the space station.
The second phase of certification will begin after CPC, and will involve a full and open competition. The second phase of certification will involve final systems development, qualification and acceptance testing, orbital demonstration flights, and initial service flights of NASA crew to the International Space Station. By the end of FY 2015, measurable progress on this second phase of certification will be evidenced. Competition will be maintained.
Statement:
By October 2018, NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the premier space-based observatory. To enable this launch date, NASA will complete the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror backplane and backplane support structures and deliver them to the Goddard Space Flight Center for integration with the mirror segments by September 30, 2015.
Description:
The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) Program will produce an astronomical observatory capable of watching the universe light up after the Big Bang. It will revolutionize humankind's understanding of the Cosmos and our place in it. This observatory is key for meeting NASA's strategic objective to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars. Webb is NASA's new telescope that will allow us to explore deeper into space and see things that even the Hubble Space Telescope cannot see. Webb's new technologies, like those developed for the backplane components, are critical to the mission's success.
The Webb observatory has a deployable, segmented primary mirror made up of 18 hexagonal mirrors. When combined into a single structure, these computer-controlled mirrors will form a single crisp image. To form these sharp images, the mirror segments must be firmly held by an extremely rigid and stable structure known as the primary mirror backplane. This backplane can be thought of as a skeleton on which we hang the mirror segments. The backplane support structure attaches to the primary mirror backplane and holds the science instrument module. The science instrument module contains the observatory's cameras and spectrographs. The backplane support structure provides a rigid and thermally stable platform to guarantee that the science instruments and telescope mirror stay in perfect alignment.
The construction of the primary mirror backplane and backplane support structure is the pacing item in the schedule for the telescope. Keeping these items on schedule is vital to keeping Webb on track for its planned October 2018 launch. From now through FY 2015, the parts of the backplane (center section, wings, backplane support fixture, and test equipment) will undergo their final phases of manufacturing and testing before being assembled into a single unit. This single unit will be delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Once the completed unit is available, NASA will place the 18 mirror segments into the backplane.
Following the completion of the telescope, the Webb program will embark on the next major integration and test portion of its schedule. In 2016, the program will begin the integration of the telescope with the science instrument module (denoted as Optical Telescope plus Integrated Science instrument module: OTIS). Also in 2016, the spacecraft will begin its integration steps. In 2017, NASA will complete the OTIS testing. The spacecraft and sunshield will be integrated and tested in 2017. Finally, in 2018, the complete integration of the observatory will occur, joining the OTIS and the spacecraft in preparation for their launch in October.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objective:
Statement:
Discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars.
Description:
NASA leads the Nation and the world on a continuing journey to answer profound questions: How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone? The scope of astrophysics is truly breathtaking, ranging from the birth of the universe and the development of stars and galaxies over cosmic time, to the search for life on planets around other stars.
NASA’s astrophysics missions explore the extreme physical conditions of the universe and study the building blocks of our own existence at the most basic level: the space, time, matter, and energy that created the universe. Our telescopes have already measured the current age of the universe to be about 13.7 billion years and have uncovered remarkable new phenomena, such as the mysterious dark energy that dominates the universe. In the future, they will probe the origin and destiny of the universe, including the first moments of the Big Bang and the nature of black holes, dark energy, dark matter, and gravity.
We seek to understand the origin and evolution of the universe, as well as understand the processes for life on other planets. NASA’s observatories allow astronomers to explore the processes of formation of stars, galaxies, and planets. We have observed star formation occurring when the universe was at only a few percent its current age. The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will allow us to uncover the mysteries of star formation at an even earlier age, as well as study in detail planets around other stars.
We are navigating a voyage of unprecedented scope and ambition: seeking to discover and study planets orbiting around other stars and to explore whether they could harbor life. NASA’s astrophysics missions, in conjunction with ground-based telescopes, have already confirmed the existence of over 2,000 extrasolar planets. Of even greater interest, we are now finding that there are many small, rocky extrasolar planets where liquid water could exist. In the future, NASA’s telescopes will continue this breathtaking journey, discovering new planets and observing signatures that could indicate possibilities for life.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: By October 2018, NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the premier space-based observatory. To enable this launch date, NASA will complete the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirror backplane and backplane support structures and deliver them to the Goddard Space Flight Center for integration with the mirror segments by September 30, 2015.
Description: The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) Program will produce an astronomical observatory capable of watching the universe light up after the Big Bang. It will revolutionize humankind's understanding of the Cosmos and our place in it. This observatory is key for meeting NASA's strategic objective to discover how the universe works, explore how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars. Webb is NASA's new telescope that will allow us to explore deeper into space and see things that even the Hubble Space Telescope cannot see. Webb's new technologies, like those developed for the backplane components, are critical to the mission's success. The Webb observatory has a deployable, segmented primary mirror made up of 18 hexagonal mirrors. When combined into a single structure, these computer-controlled mirrors will form a single crisp image. To form these sharp images, the mirror segments must be firmly held by an extremely rigid and stable structure known as the primary mirror backplane. This backplane can be thought of as a skeleton on which we hang the mirror segments. The backplane support structure attaches to the primary mirror backplane and holds the science instrument module. The science instrument module contains the observatory's cameras and spectrographs. The backplane support structure provides a rigid and thermally stable platform to guarantee that the science instruments and telescope mirror stay in perfect alignment. The construction of the primary mirror backplane and backplane support structure is the pacing item in the schedule for the telescope. Keeping these items on schedule is vital to keeping Webb on track for its planned October 2018 launch. From now through FY 2015, the parts of the backplane (center section, wings, backplane support fixture, and test equipment) will undergo their final phases of manufacturing and testing before being assembled into a single unit. This single unit will be delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Once the completed unit is available, NASA will place the 18 mirror segments into the backplane. Following the completion of the telescope, the Webb program will embark on the next major integration and test portion of its schedule. In 2016, the program will begin the integration of the telescope with the science instrument module (denoted as Optical Telescope plus Integrated Science instrument module: OTIS). Also in 2016, the spacecraft will begin its integration steps. In 2017, NASA will complete the OTIS testing. The spacecraft and sunshield will be integrated and tested in 2017. Finally, in 2018, the complete integration of the observatory will occur, joining the OTIS and the spacecraft in preparation for their launch in October.
