James Webb Space Telescope, information, updates and discussion Options

[Redstone]

The manufacture of the JWST mirror blanks has now been completed.

Despite this milestone, the fate of JWST is still somewhat precarious, because although the scientific bang from the telescope is expected to be huge, the bucks required have increased to a staggering $4.5 billion. A Space.com article on the squeeze in NASA's space-based astronomy plans gives some background.

The JWST home page can be found here.

The Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs Hubble, also has a site here. As does ESA.

[ollopa]

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INVITATION & PHOTOCALL ALERT



The next generation of Irish astronomers will take time off from their
Leaving Cert and Junior Cert examinations on Monday to brief journalists
about Ireland's big involvement in a dramatic new space telescope project
that is to revolutionise space research.



Students sitting their Science examinations this week will be graduate
researchers at university by the time the new telescope is launched in 2013
and they will be ideally placed to continue Ireland's strong tradition of
space research.



The students will brief journalists in front of a huge full-scale model of
the two-storey-high James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is to be
launched aboard Europe's powerful “Ariane-5” rocket to replace the
legendary Hubble Space Telescope. A large model of the Ariane rocket will
also be on hand.



The briefing coincides with a major international meeting at the ROYAL
HOSPITAL KILMAINHAM (RHK), which is attracting scientists and engineers
from all over the world. The meeting is hosted by the DUBLIN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES, a leading centre for research into our cosmic origins.



The full-scale space telescope model was developed by aerospace contractors Northrop Grumman to give a better understanding of the size, scale and complexity of the project. The model is constructed mainly of aluminum and steel, it weighs six tonnes and is the size of two tennis-courts.

The model was transported by ship from the United States after it was
unveilled on the National Mall in Washington DC last month. It required
four container lorries to bring it from Dublin Port to Kilmainham, and a
large crew – including many FÁS apprentices – are spending four days
assembling the model in a large meadow at the back of the RHK.



YOU ARE INVITED TO VIEW/PHOTOGRAPH THE MODEL TELESCOPE AND TO ATTEND A
BRIEFING TO HEAR AT FIRST HAND HOW IRELAND IS MAKING AN IMPACT IN THIS
EXCITING SPACE ENDEAVOUR.



WHEN: Monday, 11 June 2006



WHERE: Royal Hospital Kilmainham (RHK)

The Johnston Room



TIME: 11.30 a.m.



TO MEET: Professor Tom Ray, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies



Dr John C Mather, joint winner of the 2006
Nobel Prize for Physics. This year, Dr. Mather was listed among Time
Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.



Tony Mc Donald, Enterprise Ireland



Chair: Leo Enright, Chairman, Discover Science and Engineering.