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The James Webb Space Telescope

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Abstract

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), planned for launch in October 2018, utilizes high performance imaging optics to see beyond what the great Hubble Space Telescope can see, farther away and farther back in time. It will be the workhorse telescope for a generation of space astronomers, opening the infrared (0.6–28 μm) window with a 6.6 m aperture cold telescope. To test it end-to-end, we have developed remarkable laser interferometer technologies, with computer-generated holograms to test the primary mirror, and it must all be done cold and in a vacuum tank. I will outline the mission design, the scientific objectives, and the current status.

© 2015 Optical Society of America

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