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Description

JWST Overview
Credit: Northrop Grumman

AUDIO:
Background music.

VIDEO:
Text: Imagine... if you could glimpse the origin of the universe...
Image: Zooming in on a night landscape and stars.

Text: ... understand how stars form...
Image: Stars

Text: ... watch the birth and evolution of galaxies...
Image: Spiral galaxy morphing into an artist's concept of a solar system

Text: ... learn how planets form...
Image: Artist's concept of our solar system.

Text: ... and find other planets like Earth.
Image: Star background and galaxies morphing into image of Earth.

Text: James Webb Space Telescope
Image: Artist's concept of JWST.

Text: The James Webb Space Telescope...
Image: Artist's concept of JWST rotating.

Text: ... will help to answer these age-old questions.
Image: Nebula

Text: Webb's four scientific missions include... imaging the universe's first light...
Image: JWST deploying.

Text: ... observing the genesis of stars...
Image: Starry background

Text: ... understanding how galaxies are assembled...
Image: Stars morphing into galaxies.

Text: ... the origins of planets... Image: Artist's concept of a solar system.

Text: ... and the precursor's of life.
Image: Nebula

Text: Webb will look back as early as 200 million years after the Big Bang...
Image: Artist's concept of JWST rotating morphing into life-size model of JWST on display.

Text: ... when astronomers believe the first stars and galaxies formed...
Image: Galaxy morphing into artist's concept of the L2 position of JWST's orbit.

Text: Webb's technologies are complex... but technology development will be complete - over six years prior to launch.
Image: Artist's concept of JWST rotating.

Text: 10 new technologies have been developed for Webb...
Image: Panning view of JWST's mirror configuration with 18 hexagon shaped mirrors.

Text: ... including mirror control algorithms...
Image: Close-up view of mirrors in the lab.

Text: ... sunshield material...
Image: Sunshield in the lab.

Text: ... detectors...
Image: Mid-IR Detector and Near-IR Detector.

Text: ... micro-shutter arrays...
Image: Micro-shutter arrays.

Text: ...and various cryogenic components.
Image: Cryogenic components in the lab.

Text: Instruments are being built...
Image: Monitor showing instrumentation visualization morphing into a vat of beryllium being melted down for the mirrors.

Text: ... mirror segments have been manufactured...
Image: One mirror segment in the lab.

Text: ... and are being polished, ground, and tested.
Image: Mirrors being manufactured.

Text: The sunshield, as large as a tennis court...
Image: The sunshield opened up in the lab morphing into the sunshield opened up on a tennis court.

Text: ... is being tested to determine deployment shape and sequence.
Image: The sunshield in the lab, being pulled through the deployment sequence.

Text: NASA is partnered with a world-class team...
Image: NASA logo

Text: ... making Webb a national treasure for the US... and a crowning achievement for the world.
Image: Logos of each of the agencies working on JWST, all circling around the Earth.

Text: Providing answers to some of science's most challenging questions...
Image: Artist's concept of JWST superimposed on thumbnail images of stars and galaxies.

Text: The James Webb Space Telescope... imagine.
Image: Artist's concept of JWST rotating and fading out to black.

 

A service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Andy Ptak (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/GSFC

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