The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope that will be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The JWST will provide greatly improved resolution and sensitivity over the Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology. One of its major goals is observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies. These types of targets are beyond the reach of current ground- and space-based instruments. Other goals include understanding the formation of stars and planets, and direct imaging of exoplanets and novas.
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project is a collaboration of the United States Air Force, NASA, and the MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for the systematic detection and tracking of near-Earth objects. LINEAR was responsible for the majority of asteroid discoveries from 1998 until it was overtaken by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2005. As of 15 September 2011, LINEAR had detected 231,082 new small Solar System bodies, of which at least 2,423 were near-Earth asteroids and 279 were comets. The instruments used by the LINEAR program are located at Lincoln Laboratory's Experimental Test Site (ETS) on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) near Socorro, New Mexico.
The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) was a space observatory detecting photons with energies from 20 keV to 30 GeV, in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. It featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft, covering X-rays and gamma rays, including various specialized sub-instruments and detectors. Following 14 years of effort, the observatory was launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-37 on April 5, 1991, and operated until its deorbit on June 4, 2000. It was deployed in low earth orbit at 450 km (280 mi) to avoid the Van Allen radiation belt. It was the heaviest astrophysical payload ever flown at that time at 17,000 kilograms (37,000 lb).
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory onboard Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO) is the first space mission concept devoted to the investigation of cosmic rays and neutrinos of extreme energy (E > 5×1019 eV). Using the Earth's atmosphere as a giant detector, the detection is performed by looking at the streak of fluorescence produced when such a particle interacts with the Earth's atmosphere.
High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) for the investigation of cosmic gamma rays in the photon energy range of 0.03 to 100 TeV. The acronym was chosen in honour of Victor Hess, who was the first to observe cosmic rays.
U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, or ATEC, is a direct reporting unit of the United States Army responsible for developmental testing, independent operational testing, independent evaluations, assessments, and experiments of Army equipment.
Located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center is a direct reporting unit of Headquarters, United States Air Force. It is the Air Force independent test agency responsible for testing, under operationally realistic conditions, new systems being developed for Air Force and multi-service use.
North Oscura Peak, is a summit in the Oscura Mountains in Socorro County, New Mexico is the location of an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) site in the northern portion of the White Sands Missile Range. It rises to an elevation of 7,976 feet / 2,431 meters.
The Small Astronomy Satellite 2, also known also as SAS-2, SAS B or Explorer 48, was a NASA gamma ray telescope. It was launched on 15 November 1972 into the low Earth orbit with a periapsis of 443 km and an apoapsis of 632 km. It completed its observations on 8 June 1973.
The Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) serves as independent and objective agency within the United States Navy for the operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) of naval aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, C4I, cryptologic, and space systems in support Navy and U.S. Department of Defense acquisition programs.
The 422d Test and Evaluation Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 53d Test and Evaluation Group, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The squadron performs operational testing of all fighter aircraft and munitions entering and in operational use by Air Combat Command.
The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) is the principal staff assistant and adviser to the US Secretary of Defense on operational and live fire test and evaluation (OT&E) activities involving U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) weapons systems.
Thomas P. Christie is a career defense analyst who worked for the U.S. government.
J. Michael Gilmore is a former Director of the Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate of the United States Department of Defense. Gilmore served as Assistant Director for National Security of the Congressional Budget Office and Deputy Director of General Purpose Programs in the Office of the Director, Program Analysis and Evaluation of the Department of Defense. He was served as the Director of the Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate from 2009 to 2017.
A test article is a version of spacecraft or related vehicle or equipment, built as a platform to perform testing. Test articles are built to the specifications necessary to replicate particular conditions and behaviors of flight ready versions. Test article version are also built without the certification and quality control steps taken with the versions intended for flight. Test articles are more complete than a boilerplate.
Spektr-RG is a Russian/German high-energy astrophysics space observatory planned to launch in June 2019. It will follow on from the Spektr-R satellite telescope launched in 2011.
This page lists selected events from the chronology of the James Webb Space Telescope, a planned international 21st century space observatory. It is intended to be a premier observatory of the 2020s, combining the largest mirror yet on a near-infrared space telescope with a suite of technologically advanced instruments from around the world. JWST is expected to cost at least 8.8 billion dollars, including design, construction, and 5 years of operations or International contributions. Its likely peak year for funding was probably 2014, when the project ate up more than US$650 million.
Optical Telescope Element (OTE) is a sub-section of the James Webb Space Telescope, a large infrared space telescope scheduled to be launched early 2021. The OTE consists of some major parts of the telescopes including the main mirror, the secondary mirrors, the framework and controls to support those mirrors, and various thermal and other systems to support the functioning of the telescope. The other two major sections of the JWST are the Integrated Science Instrument Module and the Spacecraft Element (SE), which includes the Spacecraft Bus and Sunshield. The OTE collects the light and sends it to the science instruments in the ISIM. The OTE has been compared to being the "eye" of the telescope and the backplane of it to being the "spine".
The OTE Pathfinder for, or JWST Pathfinder is a technology demonstrator/test article for the James Webb Space Telescope. It is a non-flight replica of the actual backplane, but only includes the center section not the two "Wings" on the side the extend and have additional segments on the actual JWST. It has been used for various tests and has some different configurations, but some of the major tests have been practicing installing mirror segments with non-flight hardware as well as thermal tests. The Pathfinder has also been tested in conjunction with flight hardware including the Aft Optics System. One of the goals and uses of the pathfinder is risk reduction for JWST program. The pathfinder allows practicing integration and testing procedures, and for risk mitigation With the Pathfinder it was possible to test phasing two mirrors together and also to do tests with the Aft Optical System. The OTE Pathfinder was part of the plan for integration and testing of JWST, and in particular supported the Optical Telescope Element.
