Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun’s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth’s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft’s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft; the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT); the X-Ray Telescope (XRT); and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this rendering illustrates the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit with its solar panels completely extended.

Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun’s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth’s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft’s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft; the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT); the X-Ray Telescope (XRT); and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this rendering illustrates the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit with its solar panels partially extended.

Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun’s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth’s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft’s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft; the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT); the X-Ray Telescope (XRT); and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). This image of a sunspot, taken by Hinode, is a prime example of what the spacecraft can offer.

MARSHALL SCIENTIST ED WEST ASSEMBLES THE OPTICAL SYSTEM OF THE SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET MAGNETOGRAPH INVESTIGATION TELESCOPE

S93-48826 (November 1993) --- This artist's rendition of the 1993 Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission shows astronauts installing the new Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC 2). The instruments to replace the original camera and contains corrective optics that compensate for the telescope's flawed primary mirror. During the 11-plus day mission, astronauts are also scheduled to install the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) -- an optics package that focuses and routes light to the other three instruments aboard the observatory -- a new set of solar array panels, and other hardware and components. The artwork was done for JPL by Paul Hudson.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery, and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. Optics replication uses reusable forms, called mandrels, to make telescope mirrors ready for final finishing. MSFC optical physicist Bill Jones monitors a device used to chill a mandrel, causing it to shrink and separate from the telescope mirror without deforming the mirror's precisely curved surface.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century, including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. A segmented array of mirrors was designed by the Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center for solar the concentrator test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for powering solar thermal propulsion engines. Each hexagon mirror has a spherical surface to approximate a parabolic concentrator when combined into the entire 18-foot diameter array. The aluminum mirrors were polished with a diamond turning machine, that creates a glass-like reflective finish on metal. The precision fabrication machinery at the Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center at MSFC can polish specialized optical elements to a world class quality of smoothness. This image shows optics physicist, Vince Huegele, examining one of the 144-segment hexagonal mirrors of the 18-foot diameter array at the MSFC solar concentrator test stand.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century, including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. A segmented array of mirrors was designed by the Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center for the solar concentrator test stand at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for powering solar thermal propulsion engines. Each hexagon mirror has a spherical surface to approximate a parabolic concentrator when combined into the entire 18-foot diameter array. The aluminum mirrors were polished with a diamond turning machine that creates a glass-like reflective finish on metal. The precision fabrication machinery at the Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center at MSFC can polish specialized optical elements to a world class quality of smoothness. This image shows optics physicist, Vince Huegele, examining one of the 144-segment hexagonal mirrors of the 18-foot diameter array at the MSFC solar concentrator test stand.

Astronaut Hoffman held the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field/Planetary Camera-1 (WF/PC1) that was replaced by WF/PC2 in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour during Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The STS-61 mission was the first of the series of the HST servicing missions. Two months after its deployment in space, scientists detected a 2-micron spherical aberration in the primary mirror of the HST that affected the telescope's ability to focus faint light sources into a precise point. This imperfection was very slight, one-fiftieth of the width of a human hair. During four spacewalks, the STS-61 crew replaced the solar panel with its flexing problems; the WF/PC1 with WF/PC2, with built-in corrective optics; and the High-Speed Photometer with the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) to correct the aberration for the remaining instruments. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit for 15 years or more. The HST provides fine detail imaging, produces ultraviolet images and spectra, and detects very faint objects. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

This photograph shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) flight article assembly with multilayer insulation, high gain anterna, and solar arrays in a clean room of the Lockheed Missile and Space Company. The HST is the first of NASA's great observatories and the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made. The purpose of the HST is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit by placing the telescope in space, enabling astronomers to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery, and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. Dr. Joe Ritter examines a replicated electro-formed nickel-alloy mirror which exemplifies the improvements in mirror fabrication techniques, with benefits such as dramtic weight reduction that have been achieved at the Marshall Space Flight Center's Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center (SOMTC).

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery, and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. Image shows Dr. Alan Shapiro cleaning mirror mandrel to be applied with highly reflective and high-density coating in the Large Aperture Coating Chamber, MFSC Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center (SOMTC).

A comparison image of the M100 Galactic Nucleus, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera-1 (WF/PC1) and Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WF/PC2). The HST was placed in a low-Earth orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-31 mission, in April 1990. Two months after its deployment in space, scientists detected a 2-micron spherical aberration in the primary mirror of the HST that affected the telescope's ability to focus faint light sources into a precise point. This imperfection was very slight, one-fiftieth of the width of a human hair. During four spacewalks, the STS-61 crew replaced the solar panel with its flexing problems; the WF/PC1 with the WF/PC2, with built-in corrective optics; and the High-Speed Photometer with the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), to correct the aberration for the remaining instruments. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit for 15 years or more. The HST provides fine detail imaging, produces ultraviolet images and spectra, and detects very faint objects.

Engineers and technicians conduct a fit check of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Solar Array flight article in a clean room of the Lockheed Missile and Space Company. The Solar Array is 40- feet (12.1-meters) long and 8.2-feet (2.5-meters) wide, and provides power to the spacecraft. The HST is the first of NASA's great observatories and the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made. The purpose of the HST is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit by placing the telescope in space, enabling astronomers to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This is an artist's concept of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is approximately the size of a railroad car, with two cylinders joined together and wrapped in a silvery reflective heat shield blanket. Wing-like solar arrays extend horizontally from each side of these cylinders, and dish-shaped anternas extend above and below the body of the telescope. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This illustration depicts a side view of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is approximately the size of a railroad car, with two cylinders joined together and wrapped in a silvery reflective heat shield blanket. Wing-like solar arrays extend horizontally from each side of these cylinders, and dish-shaped anternas extend above and below the body of the telescope. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This image illustrates the overall Hubble Space Telescope (HST) configuration. The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is approximately the size of a railroad car, with two cylinders joined together and wrapped in a silvery reflective heat shield blanket. Wing-like solar arrays extend horizontally from each side of these cylinders, and dish-shaped anternas extend above and below the body of the telescope. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This is a view of a solar cell blanket deployed on a water table during the Solar Array deployment test. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Solar Arrays provide power to the spacecraft. The arrays are mounted on opposite sides of the HST, on the forward shell of the Support Systems Module. Each array stands on a 4-foot mast that supports a retractable wing of solar panels 40-feet (12.1-meters) long and 8.2-feet (2.5-meters) wide, in full extension. The arrays rotate so that the solar cells face the Sun as much as possible to harness the Sun's energy. The Space Telescope Operations Control Center at the Goddard Space Center operates the array, extending the panels and maneuvering the spacecraft to focus maximum sunlight on the arrays. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST Solar Array was designed by the European Space Agency and built by British Aerospace. The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST.

This artist's concept depicts the Hubble Space Telescope after being released into orbit, with the high gain anternas and solar arrays deployed and the aperture doors opened. The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is 42.5-feet (13-meters) long and weighs about 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This illustration depicts the design features of the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) Support Systems Module (SSM). The SSM is one of the three major elements of the HST and encloses the other two elements, the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and the Scientific Instruments (SI's). The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The spacecraft is 42.5-feet (13-meters) long and weighs 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). Two communication anternas, two solar array panels that collect energy for the HST, and storage bays for electronic gear are on the outside. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Connecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. This image shows a lightweight replicated x-ray mirror with gold coatings applied.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies to the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery, and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. Photograph shows J.R. Griffith inspecting a replicated x-ray mirror mandrel.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, provides remarks at the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, provides remarks at the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, autographs a piece of mail with the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on it, at the first-day-of-issue event, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

This image illustrates the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA). One of the three major elements of the HST, the OTA consists of two mirrors (a primary mirror and a secondary mirror), support trusses, and the focal plane structure. The mirrors collect and focus light from selected celestial objects and are housed near the center of the telescope. The primary mirror captures light from objects in space and focuses it toward the secondary mirror. The secondary mirror redirects the light to a focal plane where the Scientific Instruments are located. The primary mirror is 94.5 inches (2.4 meters) in diameter and the secondary mirror is 12.2 inches (0.3 meters) in diameter. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth Orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from the Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The spacecraft is 42.5 feet (13 meters) long and weighs 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

NASA's Space Optics Manufacturing Center has been working to expand our view of the universe via sophisticated new telescopes. The Optics Center's goal is to develop low-cost, advanced space optics technologies for the NASA program in the 21st century - including the long-term goal of imaging Earth-like planets in distant solar systems. To reduce the cost of mirror fabrication, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed replication techniques, the machinery, and materials to replicate electro-formed nickel mirrors. The process allows fabricating precisely shaped mandrels to be used and reused as masters for replicating high-quality mirrors. MSFC's Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center (SOMTC) has grinding and polishing equipment ranging from conventional spindles to custom-designed polishers. These capabilities allow us to grind precisely and polish a variety of optical devices, including x-ray mirror mandrels. This image shows Charlie Griffith polishing the half-meter mandrel at SOMTC.

In this photograph, engineers and technicians prepare the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC) for installation at the Lockheed Missile and Space Company. The WF/PC is designed to investigate the age of the universe and to search for new planetary systems around young stars. It takes pictures of large numbers of galaxies and close-ups of planets in our solar system. The HST is the first of NASA's great observatories and the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made. The purpose of the HST is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit by placing the telescope in space, enabling astronomers to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had overall responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Sunnyvale, California, produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This drawing illustrates the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) High Speed Photometer (HSP). The HSP measures the intensity of starlight (brightness), which will help determine astronomical distances. Its principal use will be to measure extremely-rapid variations or pulses in light from celestial objects, such as pulsating stars. The HSP produces brightness readings. Light passes into one of four special signal-multiplying tubes that record the data. The HSP can measure energy fluctuations from objects that pulsate as rapidly as once every 10 microseconds. From HSP data, astronomers expect to learn much about such mysterious objects as pulsars, black holes, and quasars. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

Testing is crucial part of NASA's success on Earth and in space. So, as the actual flight components of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope come together, engineers are testing the non-flight equipment to ensure that tests on the real Webb telescope later goes safely and according to plan. Recently, the &quot;pathfinder telescope,&quot; or just “Pathfinder,” completed its first super-cold optical test that resulted in many first-of-a-kind demonstrations. &quot;This test is the first dry-run of the equipment and procedures we will use to conduct an end-to-end optical test of the flight telescope and instruments,&quot; said Mark Clampin, Webb telescope Observatory Project Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. &quot;It provides confidence that once the flight telescope is ready, we are fully prepared for a successful test of the flight hardware.&quot; The Pathfinder is a non-flight replica of the Webb telescope’s center section backplane, or “backbone,” that includes mirrors. The flight backplane comes in three segments, a center section and two wing-like parts, all of which will support large hexagonal mirrors on the Webb telescope. The pathfinder only consists of the center part of the backplane. However, during the test, it held two full size spare primary mirror segments and a full size spare secondary mirror to demonstrate the ability to optically test and align the telescope at the planned operating temperatures of -400 degrees Fahrenheit (-240 Celsius). Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasas-webb-pathfinder-telescope-successfully-completes-first-super-cold-optical-test" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasas-webb-pathfinder-telesc...</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This illustration shows the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's) major configuration elements. The spacecraft has three interacting systems: The Support System Module (SSM), an outer structure that houses the other systems and provides services such as power, communication, and control; The Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), which collects and concentrates the incoming light in the focal plane for use by the Scientific Instruments (SI); and five SIs. The SI Control and Data Handling (CDH) unit controls the five SI's, four that are housed in an aft section focal plane structure and one that is placed along the circumference of the spacecraft. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This artist's concept depicts the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) being positioned for release from the Space Shuttle orbiter by the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is 42.5-feet (13- meters) long and weighs about 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This artist's concept depicts the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) being raised to a vertical position in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle orbiter. The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is 42.5-feet (13-meters) long and weighs about 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This is a photograph of a 1/15 scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HST is the product of a partnership between NASA, European Space Agency Contractors, and the international community of astronomers. It is named after Edwin P. Hubble, an American Astronomer who discovered the expanding nature of the universe and was the first to realize the true nature of galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The major elements of the HST are the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA), the Support System Module (SSM), and the Scientific Instruments (SI). The HST is 42.5-feet (13- meters) long and weighs about 25,000 pounds (11,600 kilograms). The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors. The Lockheed Missile and Space Company of Sunnyvale, California produced the protective outer shroud and spacecraft systems, and assembled and tested the finished telescope.

This drawing illustrates Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's), Faint Object Camera (FOC). The FOC reflects light down one of two optical pathways. The light enters a detector after passing through filters or through devices that can block out light from bright objects. Light from bright objects is blocked out to enable the FOC to see background images. The detector intensifies the image, then records it much like a television camera. For faint objects, images can be built up over long exposure times. The total image is translated into digital data, transmitted to Earth, and then reconstructed. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

Engineers and technicians working on the James Webb Space Telescope successfully completed the first important optical measurement of Webb’s fully assembled primary mirror, called a Center of Curvature test. Taking a “before” optical measurement of the telescope’s deployed mirror is crucial before the telescope goes into several stages of rigorous mechanical testing. These tests will simulate the violent sound and vibration environments the telescope will experience inside its rocket on its way out into space. This environment is one of the most stressful structurally and could alter the shape and alignment of Webb’s primary mirror, which could degrade or, in the worst case, ruin its performance. Webb has been designed and constructed to withstand its launch environment, but it must be tested to verify that it will indeed survive and not change in any unexpected way. Making the same optical measurements both before and after simulated launch environment testing and comparing the results is fundamental to Webb’s development, assuring that it will work in space. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn Read more: <a href="http://go.nasa.gov/2enIgwP" rel="nofollow">go.nasa.gov/2enIgwP</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

A crane in a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., lowers a test mass simulator (center of frame) onto the Ambient Optical Assembly Stand or AOAS to ensure it can support the James Webb Space Telescope's Optical Telescope Element during its assembly. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Engineer Erin Wilson adds aluminum tape to electrical cables to protect them from the cold during environmental testing of special optical equipment. These tests will verify the alignment of the actual flight instruments that will fly aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. &quot;Because the flight science instruments detect infrared light, they must be extremely cold to work, and so the environment we test them in must be extremely cold too,&quot; Wilson says. Wilson is working in the Space Environment Simulator thermal-vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The subject of the testing is the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) Simulator, or OSIM. The hardware seen in the background is the Beam Image Analyzer, which will be used to measure OSIM. It sits above the OSIM, which is under the platform that Wilson is working on. The OSIM is about two stories tall and almost as wide as the whole test chamber. The job of the OSIM is to generate a beam of light just like the one that the real telescope optics will feed into the actual flight science instruments. Because the real flight science instruments will be used to test the real flight telescope, their alignment and performance have to be verified first, using OSIM, and before that can happen, the OSIM has to tested and verified. In space, the telescope optics act as Webb’s eye, and on the ground, the OSIM substitutes for the telescope optics, says Robert Rashford, manager for the OSIM as well as the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Electronics Compartment. This hardware is being tested in an environment that mimics the hard vacuum and cold temperatures that Webb will experience in space. After Erin and others were done setting things up in the test chamber, Goddard engineers sealed it up, evacuated all the air and lowered the temperature of the equipment being tested to 42 Kelvin (-384-point-1 Fahrenheit or -231-point-1 Celsius). &quot;It has taken a little over a month to get temperatures cold enough to duplicate the temperatures that Webb will see in operation in space,&quot; Rashford says. In the next couple weeks Rashford and the team of Goddard engineers will measure the OSIM with the Beam Image Analyzer. This extremely cold or “cryogenic” optical testing and verification process will likely take 90 days to complete. Laura Betz NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

After five days of service and upgrade work on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the STS-109 crew photographed the giant telescope returning to its normal routine. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where 4 of the 7-member crew performed 5 space walks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: The replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near- Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. Launched March 1, 2002, the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

After five days of service and upgrade work on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the STS-109 crew photographed the giant telescope in the shuttle's cargo bay. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where 4 of the 7-member crew performed 5 space walks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: The replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. Launched March 1, 2002, the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

After five days of service and upgrade work on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the STS-109 crew photographed the giant telescope in the shuttle's cargo bay. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where 4 of the 7-member crew performed 5 space walks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: The replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. Launched March 1, 2002, the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

Inside NASA's giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the James Webb Space Telescope's Pathfinder backplane test model, is being prepared for its cryogenic test. Previously used for manned spaceflight missions, this historic chamber is now filled with engineers and technicians preparing for a crucial test. Exelis developed and installed the optical test equipment in the chamber. &quot;The optical test equipment was developed and installed in the chamber by Exelis,&quot; said Thomas Scorse, Exelis JWST Program Manager. &quot;The Pathfinder telescope gives us our first opportunity for an end-to-end checkout of our equipment.&quot; &quot;This will be the first time on the program that we will be aligning two primary mirror segments together,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA Optical Telescope Element Manager. &quot;In the past, we have always tested one mirror at a time but this time we will use a single test system and align both mirrors to it as though they are a single monolithic mirror.&quot; The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Text credit: Laura Betz, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This illustration is a diagram of the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's), Wide Field Planetary Camera (WF/PC), one of the five Scientific Instruments. The WF/PC uses a four-sided pyramid mirror to split a light image into quarters. It then focuses each quadrant onto one of two sets of four sensors. The sensors are charge-coupled detectors and function as the electronic equivalent of extremely sensitive photographic plates. The WF/PC operates in two modes. The Wide-Field mode that will view 7.2-arcmin sections of the sky, and the Planetary mode that will look at narrower fields of view, such as planets or areas within other galaxies. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

Inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's giant clean room in Greenbelt, Md., JWST Optical Engineer Larkin Carey from Ball Aerospace, examines two test mirror segments recently placed on a black composite structure. This black composite structure is called the James Webb Space Telescope's “Pathfinder” and acts as a spine supporting the telescope's primary mirror segments. The Pathfinder is a non-flight prototype. The mirrors were placed on Pathfinder using a robotic arm move that involved highly trained engineers and technicians from Exelis, Northrop Grumman and NASA. &quot;Getting this right is critical to proving we are ready to start assembling the flight mirrors onto the flight structure next summer,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA's Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA Goddard. &quot;This is the first space telescope that has ever been built with a light-weighted segmented primary mirror, so learning how to do this is a groundbreaking capability for not only the Webb telescope but for potential future space telescopes.&quot; The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov</a> or <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/webb" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/webb</a> Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This is an onboard photo of Astronaut John M. Grunsfield, STS-109 payload commander, participating in the third of five spacewalks to perform work on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). On this particular walk, Grunsfield, joined by Astronaut Richard M. Lirnehan, turned off the telescope in order to replace its power control unit (PCU), the heart of the HST's power system. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where crew members completed system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. Launched March 1, 2002 the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

This drawing illustrates the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's), Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS). The HST's two spectrographs, the GHRS and the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), can detect a broader range of wavelengths than is possible from Earth because there is no atmosphere to absorb certain wavelengths. Scientists can determine the chemical composition, temperature, pressure, and turbulence of the stellar atmosphere producing the light, all from spectral data. The GHRS can detect fine details in the light from somewhat brighter objects but only ultraviolet light. Both spectrographs operate in essentially the same way. The incoming light passes through a small entrance aperture, then passes through filters and diffraction gratings, that work like prisms. The filter or grating used determines what range of wavelength will be examined and in what detail. Then the spectrograph detectors record the strength of each wavelength band and sends it back to Earth. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

This drawing illustrates the Hubble Space Telescope's (HST's), Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS). The HST's two spectrographs, the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph and the FOS, can detect a broader range of wavelengths than is possible from the Earth because there is no atmosphere to absorb certain wavelengths. Scientists can determine the chemical composition, temperature, pressure, and turbulence of the stellar atmosphere producing the light, all from spectral data. The FOC can detect detail in very faint objects, such as those at great distances, and light ranging from ultraviolet to red spectral bands. Both spectrographs operate in essentially the same way. The incoming light passes through a small entrance aperture, then passes through filters and diffraction gratings, that work like prisms. The filter or grating used determines what range of wavelength will be examined and in what detail. Then the spectrograph detectors record the strength of each wavelength band and sends it back to Earth. The purpose of the HST, the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, is to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. By placing the telescope in space, astronomers are able to collect data that is free of the Earth's atmosphere. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. The HST was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31 mission) into Earth orbit in April 1990. The Marshall Space Flight Center had responsibility for design, development, and construction of the HST. The Perkin-Elmer Corporation, in Danbury, Cornecticut, developed the optical system and guidance sensors.

Release date: July 1, 2008 This image is a composite of visible (or optical), radio, and X-ray data of the full shell of the supernova remnant from SN 1006. The radio data show much of the extent that the X-ray image shows. In contrast, only a small linear filament in the northwest corner of the shell is visible in the optical data. The object has an angular size of roughly 30 arcminutes (0.5 degree, or about the size of the full moon), and a physical size of 60 light-years (18 parsecs) based on its distance of nearly 7,000 light-years. The small green box along the bright filament at the top of the image corresponds to the dimensions of the Hubble release image. The optical data was obtained at the University of Michigan's 0.9-meter Curtis Schmidt telescope at the National Science Foundation's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) near La Serena, Chile. H-alpha, continuum-subtracted data were provided by F. Winkler (Middlebury COllege) et al. The X-ray data were acquired from the Chandra X-ray Observatory's AXAF CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) at 0.5-3keV, and were provided by J. Hughes (Rutgers University) et al. The radio data, supplied by K. Dyer (NRAO, Socorro) et al., were a composite from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (NRAO/VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico, along with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in Green Bank, West Virginia. Data of the supernova remnant were blended on a visible-light stellar background created using the Digitized Sky Survey's Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO2) blue and red plates. Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI) Science Credit: Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF GBT+VLA 1.4 GHz mosaic (Dyer, Maddalena and Cornwell, NRAO); X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/G. Cassam-Chenai and J. Hughes et al.; Optical: F.Winkler/Middlebury College and NOAO/AURA/NSF; and DSS To learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope go here: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a><b> </b></b>

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), with its normal routine temporarily interrupted, is about to be captured by the Space Shuttle Columbia prior to a week of servicing and upgrading by the STS-109 crew. The telescope was captured by the shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robotic arm and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay where 4 of the 7-member crew performed 5 space walks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: The replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. Launched March 1, 2002, the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

NASA image release August 23, 2012 What looks like a giant golden spider weaving a web of cables and cords, is actually ground support equipment, including the Optical Telescope Simulator (OSIM), for the James Webb Space Telescope. OSIM's job is to generate a beam of light just like the one that the real telescope optics will feed into the actual flight instruments. Because the real flight instruments will be used to test the real flight telescope, their alignment and performance first have to be verified by using the OSIM. Engineers are thoroughly checking out OSIM now in preparation for using it to test the flight science instruments later. This photo was taken from inside a large thermal-vacuum chamber called the Space Environment Simulator (SES), at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Engineers have blanketed the structure of the OSIM with special insulating material to help control its temperature while it goes into the deep freeze testing that mimics the chill of space that Webb will ultimately experience in its operational orbit over 1 million miles from Earth. The golden-colored thermal blankets are made of aluminized kapton, a polymer film that remains stable over a wide range of temperatures. The structure that looks like a silver and black cube underneath the &quot;spider&quot; is a set of cold panels that surround OSIM's optics. During testing, OSIM's temperature will drop to 100 Kelvin (-280 F or -173 C) as liquid nitrogen flows through tubes welded to the chamber walls and through tubes along the silver panels surrounding OSIM's optics. These cold panels will keep the OSIM optics very cold, but the parts covered by the aluminized kapton blankets will stay warm. &quot;Some blankets have silver facing out and gold facing in, or inverted, or silver on both sides, etc.,&quot; says Erin Wilson, a Goddard engineer. &quot;Depending on which side of the blanket your hardware is looking at, the blankets can help it get colder or stay warmer, in an environmental test.&quot; Another reason for thermal blankets is to shield the cold OSIM optics from unwanted stray infrared light. When the OSIM is pointing its calibrated light beam at Webb's science instruments, engineers don't want any stray infrared light, such as &quot;warm photons&quot; from warm structures, leaking into the instruments' field of view. Too much of this stray light would raise the background too much for the instruments to &quot;see&quot; light from the OSIM—it would be like trying to photograph a lightning bug flying in front of car headlights. To get OSIM's optics cold, the inside of the chamber has to get cold, and to do that, all the air has to be pumped out to create a vacuum. Then liquid nitrogen has to be run though the plumbing along the inner walls of the chamber. Wilson notes that's why the blankets have to have vents in them: &quot;That way, the air between all the layers can be evacuated as the chamber pressure drops, otherwise the blankets could pop,&quot; says Wilson. The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb's four instruments will reveal how the universe evolved from the Big Bang to the formation of our solar system. Webb is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image release April 13, 2011 An engineer examines the Webb telescope primary mirror Engineering Design Unit segment in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. It takes two unique types of mirrors working together to see farther back in time and space than ever before, and engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have just received one of each type. Primary and Secondary Mirror Engineering Design Units (EDUs) have recently arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif. and are undergoing examination and testing. When used on the James Webb Space Telescope those two types of mirrors will allow scientists to make those observations. &quot;The Primary mirror EDU will be used next year to check out optical test equipment developed by Goddard and slated to be used to test the full Flight Primary mirror,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, the Optical Telescope Element Manager for the Webb telescope at NASA Goddard. &quot;Following that, the primary and secondary EDU's will actually be assembled onto the Pathfinder telescope. The Pathfinder telescope includes two primary mirror segments (one being the Primary EDU) and the Secondary EDU and allows us to check out all of the assembly and test procedures (that occur both at Goddard and testing at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas) well in advance of the flight telescope assembly and test.&quot; To read more about this image go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/two-webb-mirrors.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/two-webb-mirrors....</a> Credit: NASA/GSFC/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

Engineers and technicians manually deployed the secondary mirror support structure (SMSS) of the James Webb Space Telescope's Pathfinder backplane test model, outside of a giant space simulation chamber called Chamber A, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. This historic test chamber was previously used in manned spaceflight missions and is being readied for a cryogenic test of a Webb telescope component. In the weightless environment of space, the SMSS is deployed by electric motors. On the ground, specially trained operators use a hand crank and a collection of mechanical ground support equipment to overcome the force of gravity. &quot;This structure needs to be in the deployed configuration during the cryogenic test to see how the structure will operate in the frigid temperatures of space,&quot; said Will Rowland, senior mechanical test engineer for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, California. &quot;The test also demonstrates that the system works and can be successfully deployed.&quot; After the deployment was completed, Chamber A's circular door was opened and the rails (seen in the background of the photo) were installed so that the Pathfinder unit could be lifted, installed and rolled into the chamber on a cart. The team completed a fit check for the Pathfinder. Afterwards they readied the chamber for the cryogenic test, which will simulate the frigid temperatures the Webb telescope will encounter in space. “The team has been doing a great job keeping everything on schedule to getting our first optical test results, &quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA Optical Telescope Element Manager. The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Image credit: NASA/Desiree Stover Text credit: Laura Betz, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Carrying a crew of seven, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia soared through some pre-dawn clouds into the sky as it began its 27th flight, STS-109. Launched March 1, 2002, the goal of the mission was the maintenance and upgrade of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. During the STS-109 mission, the telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm. Here four members of the crew performed five spacewalks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when it original coolant ran out. Lasting 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes, the STS-109 mission was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

This is the insignia of the STS-109 Space Shuttle mission. Carrying a crew of seven, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Columbia was launched with goals of maintenance and upgrades to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. During the STS-109 mission, the telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm where four members of the crew performed five spacewalks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: The replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when it original coolant ran out. Lasting 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes, the STS-109 mission was the 27th flight of the Orbiter Columbia and the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

This is a photo of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST),in its origianl configuration, berthed in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Columbia during the STS-109 mission silhouetted against the airglow of the Earth's horizon. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where 4 of the 7-member crew performed 5 spacewalks completing system upgrades to the HST. Included in those upgrades were: replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the power control unit (PCU); replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. The HST views galaxies, stars, planets, comets, possibly other solar systems, and even unusual phenomena such as quasars, with 10 times the clarity of ground-based telescopes. Launched March 1, 2002 the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

NASA release April 1, 2010 The gamma-ray output from Cen A's lobes exceeds their radio output by more than ten times. High-energy gamma rays detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope are depicted as purple in this gamma ray/optical composite of the galaxy. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory To learn more about these images go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

NASA release April 1, 2010 The gamma-ray output from Cen A's lobes exceeds their radio output by more than ten times. High-energy gamma rays detected by Fermi's Large Area Telescope are depicted as purple in this gamma ray/optical composite of the galaxy. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory To learn more about these images go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

A view of the one dozen (out of 18) flight mirror segments that make up the primary mirror on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have been installed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn More: Since December 2015, the team of scientists and engineers have been working tirelessly to install all the primary mirror segments onto the telescope structure in the large clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The twelfth mirror was installed on January 2, 2016. &quot;This milestone signifies that all of the hexagonal shaped mirrors on the fixed central section of the telescope structure are installed and only the 3 mirrors on each wing are left for installation,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA's Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA Goddard. &quot;The incredibly skilled and dedicated team assembling the telescope continues to find ways to do things faster and more efficiently.&quot; Each hexagonal-shaped segment measures just over 4.2 feet (1.3 meters) across and weighs approximately 88 pounds (40 kilograms). After being pieced together, the 18 primary mirror segments will work together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) mirror. The primary mirror will unfold and adjust to shape after launch. The mirrors are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium. The mirrors are placed on the telescope's backplane using a robotic arm, guided by engineers. The full installation is expected to be completed in a few months. The mirrors were built by Ball Aerospace &amp; Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. Ball is the principal subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for the optical technology and lightweight mirror system. The installation of the mirrors onto the telescope structure is performed by Harris Corporation of Rochester, New York. Harris Corporation leads integration and testing for the telescope. While the mirror assembly is a very significant milestone, there are many more steps involved in assembling the Webb telescope. The primary mirror and the tennis-court-sized sunshield are the largest and most visible components of the Webb telescope. However, there are four smaller components that are less visible, yet critical. The instruments that will fly aboard Webb - cameras and spectrographs with detectors able to record extremely faint signals — are part of the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), which is currently undergoing its final cryogenic vacuum test and will be integrated with the mirror later this year. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/by-the-dozen-nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-mirrors" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/by-the-dozen-nasas-jame...</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Caption: One dozen (out of 18) flight mirror segments that make up the primary mirror on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have been installed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn More: Since December 2015, the team of scientists and engineers have been working tirelessly to install all the primary mirror segments onto the telescope structure in the large clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The twelfth mirror was installed on January 2, 2016. &quot;This milestone signifies that all of the hexagonal shaped mirrors on the fixed central section of the telescope structure are installed and only the 3 mirrors on each wing are left for installation,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA's Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA Goddard. &quot;The incredibly skilled and dedicated team assembling the telescope continues to find ways to do things faster and more efficiently.&quot; Each hexagonal-shaped segment measures just over 4.2 feet (1.3 meters) across and weighs approximately 88 pounds (40 kilograms). After being pieced together, the 18 primary mirror segments will work together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) mirror. The primary mirror will unfold and adjust to shape after launch. The mirrors are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium. The mirrors are placed on the telescope's backplane using a robotic arm, guided by engineers. The full installation is expected to be completed in a few months. The mirrors were built by Ball Aerospace &amp; Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. Ball is the principal subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for the optical technology and lightweight mirror system. The installation of the mirrors onto the telescope structure is performed by Harris Corporation of Rochester, New York. Harris Corporation leads integration and testing for the telescope. While the mirror assembly is a very significant milestone, there are many more steps involved in assembling the Webb telescope. The primary mirror and the tennis-court-sized sunshield are the largest and most visible components of the Webb telescope. However, there are four smaller components that are less visible, yet critical. The instruments that will fly aboard Webb - cameras and spectrographs with detectors able to record extremely faint signals — are part of the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), which is currently undergoing its final cryogenic vacuum test and will be integrated with the mirror later this year. Read more: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/by-the-dozen-nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-mirrors" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/by-the-dozen-nasas-jame...</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Artist concept shows the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) placed in orbit above the Earth's distorting layer of atmosphere by Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, during mission STS-31. Tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) is visible in the background and ground station is visible below on the Earth's surface. HST is the first of the great observatories to go into service and one of NASA's highest priority scientific spacecraft. Capable of observing in both visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, HST has been termed the most important scientific instrument ever designed for use on orbit. It will literally be able to look back in time, observing the universe as it existed early in its lifetime and providing information on how matter has evolved over the eons. The largest scientific payload ever built, the 12 1/2-ton, 43-foot HST was developed by Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, spacecraft prime contractor, and Perkin-Elmer Corporation, prime contractor for the optical assembly. The European Space Agency (ESA) furnished the power generating solar array and one of the system's five major instruments. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) manages the HST project; Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) will be responsible, when the spacecraft is in orbit, for controlling the telescope and processing the images and instrument data returns.

From left to right, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Deputy Observatory Project Scientist, Erin Smith, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, Smithsonian Institution Under Secretary for Service and Research, Ellen Stofan, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, United States Postal Service Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Anton Hajjar, NASA public affairs specialist Alice Fisher, National Postal Museum Deputy Director, Toby Mensforth, and Lisa Whitehead, USPS, unveil the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the first-day-of-issue event on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

From left to right, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, Smithsonian Institution Under Secretary for Service and Research, Ellen Stofan, United States Postal Service Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Anton Hajjar, National Postal Museum Deputy Director Toby Mensforth, Lisa Whitehead, USPS, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Deputy Observatory Project Scientist, Erin Smith, and NASA public affairs specialist, Alice Fisher, pose for a photo at the conclusion of the first-day-of-issue event for the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

From left to right, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Deputy Observatory Project Scientist, Erin Smith, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, Smithsonian Institution Under Secretary for Service and Research, Ellen Stofan, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, United States Postal Service Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Anton Hajjar, NASA public affairs specialist Alice Fisher, National Postal Museum Deputy Director, Toby Mensforth, and Lisa Whitehead, USPS, unveil the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the first-day-of-issue event on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

From left to right, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Deputy Observatory Project Scientist, Erin Smith, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg, Smithsonian Institution Under Secretary for Service and Research, Ellen Stofan, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana, United States Postal Service Vice Chairman, Board of Governors, Anton Hajjar, NASA public affairs specialist Alice Fisher, National Postal Museum Deputy Director, Toby Mensforth, and Lisa Whitehead, USPS, applaud after unveiling the United States Postal Service’s new stamp celebrating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the first-day-of-issue event on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington. The stamp, which features an illustration of the observatory, honors Webb’s mission to explore the unknown in our universe – solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

This is an onboard photo of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) power control unit (PCU), the heart of the HST's power system. STS-109 payload commander John M. Grunsfeld, joined by Astronaut Richard M. Lirnehan, turned off the telescope in order to replace its PCU while participating in the third of five spacewalks dedicated to servicing and upgrading the HST. Other upgrades performed were: replacement of the solar array panels; replacement of the Faint Object Camera (FOC) with a new advanced camera for Surveys (ACS); and installation of the experimental cooling system for the Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), which had been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out. The telescope was captured and secured on a work stand in Columbia's payload bay using Columbia's robotic arm, where crew members completed the system upgrades. The Marshall Space Flight Center had the responsibility for the design, development, and construction of the HST, which is the most complex and sensitive optical telescope ever made, to study the cosmos from a low-Earth orbit. The HST detects objects 25 times fainter than the dimmest objects seen from Earth and provides astronomers with an observable universe 250 times larger than is visible from ground-based telescopes, perhaps as far away as 14 billion light-years. Launched March 1, 2002 the STS-109 HST servicing mission lasted 10 days, 22 hours, and 11 minutes. It was the 108th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

Engineers are checking to make sure that MIRI is precisely positioned with the ISIM as it slides into position. They have to make sure it's installed exactly where it needs to be within the width of a thin human hair. Visible is MIRI's pickoff mirror, which is the protrusion on the right side of the instrument that looks like a periscope on its side. This is where MIRI grabs light coming from the telescope optics. Also visible is the silver-colored base of MIRI's cryocooled shield, already installed on the ISIM structure and with a hole in it for MIRI's pickoff mirror. MIRI itself has special silver-colored blanketing around it as insulation to keep it at its proper cryogenic temperature during operation. Photo Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn; Text Credit: NASA/Laura Betz ---- Engineers worked meticulously to implant the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument into the ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module, in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. As the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb telescope will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars. For more information, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

The powerful primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to detect the light from distant galaxies. The manufacturer of those mirrors, Ball Aerospace &amp; Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., recently celebrated their successful efforts as mirror segments were packed up in special shipping canisters (cans) for shipping to NASA. The Webb telescope has 21 mirrors, with 18 primary mirror segments working together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror. The mirror segments are made of beryllium, which was selected for its stiffness, light weight and stability at cryogenic temperatures. Bare beryllium is not very reflective of near-infrared light, so each mirror is coated with about 0.12 ounce of gold. Northrop Grumman Corp. Aerospace Systems is the principal contractor on the telescope and commissioned Ball for the optics system's development, design, manufacturing, integration and testing. The Webb telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information about the James Webb Space Telescope, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov</a> Credit: Ball Aerospace <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Just like drivers sometimes use snow to clean their car mirrors in winter, two Exelis Inc. engineers are practicing &quot;snow cleaning'&quot; on a test telescope mirror for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. By shooting carbon dioxide snow at the surface, engineers are able to clean large telescope mirrors without scratching them. &quot;The snow-like crystals (carbon dioxide snow) knock contaminate particulates and molecules off the mirror,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, NASA optical telescope element manager. This technique will only be used if the James Webb Space Telescope's mirror is contaminated during integration and testing. The Webb telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. With a mirror seven times as large as Hubble's and infrared capability, Webb will be capturing light from 13.5 billion light years away. To do this, its mirror must be kept super clean. &quot;Small dust particles or molecules can impact the science that can be done with the Webb,&quot; said Feinberg. &quot;So cleanliness especially on the mirrors is critical.&quot; Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Image credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn Text credit: Laura Betz, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA release July 19, 2011 <b>Click here to learn about the <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> James Webb Space Telescope</a></b> The secondary mirror (shown here) was polished at the L3 Integrated Optical Systems - Tinsley in Richmond, Calif. to accuracies of less than one millionth of an inch. That accuracy is important for forming the sharpest images when the mirrors cool to -400°F (-240°C) in the cold of space. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating. &quot;Secondary&quot; may not sound as important as &quot;primary&quot; but when it comes to the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope a secondary mirror plays a critical role in ensuring the telescope gathers information from the cosmos. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating. There are four different types of mirrors that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, and all are made of a light metal called beryllium. It is very strong for its weight and holds its shape across a range of temperatures. There are primary mirror segments (18 total that combined make the large primary mirror providing a collecting area of 25 meters squared/269.1 square feet), the secondary mirror, tertiary mirror and the fine steering mirror. Unlike the primary mirror, which is molded into the shape of a hexagon, the secondary mirror is perfectly rounded. The mirror is also convex, so the reflective surface bulges toward a light source. It looks much like a curved mirror that you'll see on the wall near the exit of a parking garage that lets motorists see around a corner. This mirror is coated with a microscopic layer of gold to enable it to efficiently reflect infrared light (which is what the Webb telescope's cameras see). The quality of the secondary mirror surface is so good that the final convex surface at cold temperatures does not deviate from the design by more than a few millionths of a millimeter - or about one ten thousandth the diameter of a human hair. &quot;As the only convex mirror on the Webb telescope, the secondary mirror has always been recognized to be the hardest of all of the mirrors to polish and test, so we are delighted that its performance meets all specifications,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Convex mirrors are particularly hard to test because light that strikes them diverges away from the mirror. Feinberg noted, &quot;The Webb telescope convex secondary mirror is approximately the size of the Spitzer Space Telescope's primary mirror and is by far the largest convex cryogenic mirror ever built for a NASA program.&quot; It was data from the Spitzer's mirrors that helped make the decision to use beryllium for the Webb telescope mirrors. Spitzer's mirrors were also made of beryllium. So why is this mirror so critical? Because the secondary mirror captures light from the 18 primary mirror segments and relays those distant images of the cosmos to the telescope's science cameras. The secondary mirror is mounted on folding &quot;arms&quot; that position it in front of the 18 primary mirror segments. The secondary mirror will soon come to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. where it will be installed on the telescope structure. Then, as a complete unit, the telescope structure and mirrors will undergo acoustic and vibration testing. The secondary mirror was developed at Ball Aerospace &amp; Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo. and the mirror recently completed polishing at the L3–IOS-Tinsley facility in Richmond, Calif. Northrop Grumman space Systems is the prime contractor on the Webb telescope program. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars. The Webb Telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Credit:NASA/Ball Aerospace/Tinsley <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA release July 19, 2011 <b>Click here to learn about the <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> James Webb Space Telescope</a></b> The secondary mirror (shown here) was polished at the L3 Integrated Optical Systems - Tinsley in Richmond, Calif. to accuracies of less than one millionth of an inch. That accuracy is important for forming the sharpest images when the mirrors cool to -400°F (-240°C) in the cold of space. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating. &quot;Secondary&quot; may not sound as important as &quot;primary&quot; but when it comes to the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope a secondary mirror plays a critical role in ensuring the telescope gathers information from the cosmos. The Webb's secondary mirror was recently completed, following polishing and gold-coating. There are four different types of mirrors that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, and all are made of a light metal called beryllium. It is very strong for its weight and holds its shape across a range of temperatures. There are primary mirror segments (18 total that combined make the large primary mirror providing a collecting area of 25 meters squared/269.1 square feet), the secondary mirror, tertiary mirror and the fine steering mirror. Unlike the primary mirror, which is molded into the shape of a hexagon, the secondary mirror is perfectly rounded. The mirror is also convex, so the reflective surface bulges toward a light source. It looks much like a curved mirror that you'll see on the wall near the exit of a parking garage that lets motorists see around a corner. This mirror is coated with a microscopic layer of gold to enable it to efficiently reflect infrared light (which is what the Webb telescope's cameras see). The quality of the secondary mirror surface is so good that the final convex surface at cold temperatures does not deviate from the design by more than a few millionths of a millimeter - or about one ten thousandth the diameter of a human hair. &quot;As the only convex mirror on the Webb telescope, the secondary mirror has always been recognized to be the hardest of all of the mirrors to polish and test, so we are delighted that its performance meets all specifications,&quot; said Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Convex mirrors are particularly hard to test because light that strikes them diverges away from the mirror. Feinberg noted, &quot;The Webb telescope convex secondary mirror is approximately the size of the Spitzer Space Telescope's primary mirror and is by far the largest convex cryogenic mirror ever built for a NASA program.&quot; It was data from the Spitzer's mirrors that helped make the decision to use beryllium for the Webb telescope mirrors. Spitzer's mirrors were also made of beryllium. So why is this mirror so critical? Because the secondary mirror captures light from the 18 primary mirror segments and relays those distant images of the cosmos to the telescope's science cameras. The secondary mirror is mounted on folding &quot;arms&quot; that position it in front of the 18 primary mirror segments. The secondary mirror will soon come to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. where it will be installed on the telescope structure. Then, as a complete unit, the telescope structure and mirrors will undergo acoustic and vibration testing. The secondary mirror was developed at Ball Aerospace &amp; Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo. and the mirror recently completed polishing at the L3–IOS-Tinsley facility in Richmond, Calif. Northrop Grumman space Systems is the prime contractor on the Webb telescope program. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars. The Webb Telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Credit:NASA/Ball Aerospace/Tinsley <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Technicians and scientists check out one of the Webb telescope's first two flight mirrors in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn ----- The first two of the 18 primary mirrors to fly aboard NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The mirrors are going through receiving and inspection and will then be stored in the Goddard cleanroom until engineers are ready to assemble them onto the telescope's backplane structure that will support them. Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colo., under contract to Northrop Grumman, is responsible for the Webb’s optical technology and lightweight mirror system. On September 17, 2012, Ball Aerospace shipped the first two mirrors in custom containers designed specifically for the multiple trips the mirrors made through eight U.S. states while completing their manufacturing. The remaining 16 mirrors will make their way from Ball Aerospace to Goddard over the next 12 months as they await telescope integration in 2015. To read more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-tech-mirrors-delivered.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-tech-mirrors...</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This photograph shows support structures wrapped in gold thermal blankets that look like a golden cage. The structure is housed within the vacuum chamber called the Space Environment Simulator, or SES. The SES is located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., where components of the James Webb Space Telescope are being tested to withstand the extreme temperatures of space. The entire structure is a system of supports and thermal control devices for the series of thermal tests. Visible in the photo is the lower GESHA (Ground Environmental SES Hardware Assembly).The box in the center photo is a group of four LN2 (liquid nitrogen) panels that are designed to keep it at around 100 kelvins. The panels surround the primary mirror of the OTE (Optical Telescope Element) Simulator or OSIM. When NASA's Webb telescope launches in 2018, it will fly a million miles from Earth and enable scientists on Earth to see the most detailed pictures of the universe. For another photo of the SES, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb_osim.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb_osim.html</a> For more information about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov</a> Photo: NASA/Chris Gunn Text: NASA/Rob Gutro <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

nside the world's largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked tirelessly to install another essential part of the James Webb Space Telescope - the Near Infrared Camera into the heart of the telescope. To complete this installation, the engineers needed to carefully move NIRCam inside the heart or ISIM, or Integrated Science Instrument Module that will house all of the science instruments. &quot;Installing NIRCam into the center of the structure is nerve wracking because of the tight clearances,&quot; said Marcia J. Rieke, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, and principal investigator for the NIRCam. &quot;I'm glad nothing bumped, and all the bolts are in place.&quot; NIRCam is a unique machine because in addition to being one of the four science instruments on the Webb, it also serves as the wavefront sensor, which means it will provide vital information for shaping the telescope mirrors and aligning its optics so that they can function properly and see into the distant universe. The NIRCam instrument will operate at very cold temperatures, and will be tested to ensure that it will be able to withstand the environment of space. The NIRCam is Webb's primary imager that will cover the infrared wavelength range 0.6 to 5 microns. It will detect light from the earliest stars and galaxies in the process of formation, the population of stars in nearby galaxies, as well as young stars and exoplanets in the Milky Way. NIRCam is provided by the University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov</a> or <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/webb" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/webb</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

The optics module of the James Webb Space Telescope's primary imager, the Near Infrared Camera, arrived at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on Saturday, July 27, 2013. In this photo, Lockheed Martin engineers attach a lift sling to the NIRCam instrument. Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA release April 1, 2010 Fermi's Large Area Telescope resolved high-energy gamma rays from an extended region around the active galaxy Centaurus A. The emission corresponds to million-light-year-wide radio-emitting gas thrown out by the galaxy's supersized black hole. This inset shows an optical/gamma-ray composite of the galaxy and its location on the Fermi one-year sky map. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration, Capella Observatory To learn more about these images go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/news/smokestack-plumes.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

The OTE (Optical Telescope Element) Simulator or OSIM wrapped in a silver blanket on a platform, being lowered down into a vacuum chamber (called the Space Environment Simulator, or SES) by a crane to be tested to withstand the cold temperatures of space. More information: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-osim.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-osim.html</a> Credit: NASA Goddard/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

The last of the five sunshield layers responsible for protecting the optics and instruments of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now complete. Read more: <a href="http://go.nasa.gov/2erZV41" rel="nofollow">go.nasa.gov/2erZV41</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image release December 9, 2010 Caption: The James Webb Space Telescope's Engineering Design Unit (EDU) primary mirror segment, coated with gold by Quantum Coating Incorporated. The actuator is located behind the mirror. Credit: Photo by Drew Noel NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is a wonder of modern engineering. As the planned successor to the Hubble Space telescope, even the smallest of parts on this giant observatory will play a critical role in its performance. A new video takes viewers behind the Webb's mirrors to investigate &quot;actuators,&quot; one component that will help Webb focus on some of the earliest objects in the universe. The video called &quot;Got Your Back&quot; is part of an on-going video series about the Webb telescope called &quot;Behind the Webb.&quot; It was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md. and takes viewers behind the scenes with scientists and engineers who are creating the Webb telescope's components. During the 3 minute and 12 second video, STScI host Mary Estacion interviewed people involved in the project at Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colo. and showed the actuators in action. The Webb telescope will study every phase in the history of our universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the big bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system. Measuring the light this distant light requires a primary mirror 6.5 meters (21 feet 4 inches) across – six times larger than the Hubble Space telescope’s mirror! Launching a mirror this large into space isn’t feasible. Instead, Webb engineers and scientists innovated a unique solution – building 18 mirrors that will act in unison as one large mirror. These mirrors are packaged together into three sections that fold up - much easier to fit inside a rocket. Each mirror is made from beryllium and weighs approximately 20 kilograms (46 pounds). Once in space, getting these mirrors to focus correctly on faraway galaxies is another challenge entirely. Actuators, or tiny mechanical motors, provide the answer to achieving a single perfect focus. The primary and secondary mirror segments are both moved by six actuators that are attached to the back of the mirrors. The primary segment has an additional actuator at the center of the mirror that adjusts its curvature. The third mirror segment remains stationary. Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. explained &quot;Aligning the primary mirror segments as though they are a single large mirror means each mirror is aligned to 1/10,000th the thickness of a human hair. This alignment has to be done at 50 degrees above absolute zero! What's even more amazing is that the engineers and scientists working on the Webb telescope literally had to invent how to do this.&quot; With the actuators in place, Brad Shogrin, Webb Telescope Manager at Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colo, details the next step: attaching the hexapod (meaning six-footed) assembly and radius of curvature subsystem (ROC). &quot;Radius of curvature&quot; refers to the distance to the center point of the curvature of the mirror. Feinberg added &quot;To understand the concept in a more basic sense, if you change that radius of curvature, you change the mirror's focus.&quot; The &quot;Behind the Webb&quot; video series is available in HQ, large and small Quicktime formats, HD, Large and Small WMV formats, and HD, Large and Small Xvid formats. To see the actuators being attached to the back of a telescope mirror in this new &quot;Behind the Webb&quot; video, visit: <a href="http://webbtelescope.org/webb_telescope/behind_the_webb/7" rel="nofollow">webbtelescope.org/webb_telescope/behind_the_webb/7</a> For more information about Webb's mirrors, visit: <a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/mirrors.html" rel="nofollow">www.jwst.nasa.gov/mirrors.html</a> For more information on the James Webb Space Telescope, visit: <a href="http://jwst.nasa.gov" rel="nofollow">jwst.nasa.gov</a> Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

The James Webb Space Telescope's ISIM structure recently endured a &quot;gravity sag test&quot; as it was rotated in what looked like giant cube in a NASA clean room. The Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) that will fly on the Webb telescope was rotated upside down inside a cube-like structure in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The purpose of &quot;cubing&quot; the ISIM was to test it for &quot;gravity sag,&quot; which is to see how much the structure changes under its own weight due to gravity. The Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) is one of three major elements that comprise the Webb Observatory flight system. The others are the Optical Telescope Element (OTE) and the Spacecraft Element (Spacecraft Bus and Sunshield). Read more: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1ze7u2l" rel="nofollow">1.usa.gov/1ze7u2l</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image release April 6, 2011 Images from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical (white, purple) and X-ray telescopes (yellow and red) were combined in this view of GRB 110328A. The blast was detected only in X-rays, which were collected over a 3.4-hour period on March 28. Credit: NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler NASA's Swift, Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to study one of the most puzzling cosmic blasts yet observed. More than a week later, high-energy radiation continues to brighten and fade from its location. Astronomers say they have never seen anything this bright, long-lasting and variable before. Usually, gamma-ray bursts mark the destruction of a massive star, but flaring emission from these events never lasts more than a few hours. Although research is ongoing, astronomers say that the unusual blast likely arose when a star wandered too close to its galaxy's central black hole. Intense tidal forces tore the star apart, and the infalling gas continues to stream toward the hole. According to this model, the spinning black hole formed an outflowing jet along its spin axis. A powerful blast of X- and gamma rays is seen if this jet is pointed in our direction. To read more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/star-disintegration.." rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/star-disintegration..</a>. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook

JWST Full-Scale Model on Display. A full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope was built by the prime contractor, Northrop Grumman, to provide a better understanding of the size, scale and complexity of this satellite. The model is constructed mainly of aluminum and steel, weighs 12,000 lb., and is approximately 80 feet long, 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall. The model requires 2 trucks to ship it and assembly takes a crew of 12 approximately four days. This model has traveled to a few sites since 2005. The photographs below were taken at some of its destinations. The model was on display at The International Society for Optical Engineering's (SPIE) week-long Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentations conference,May 25 - 30, 2006. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Dr Mark Clampin <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Some of the most breathtaking views in the Universe are created by nebulae — hot, glowing clouds of gas. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the centre of the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust. Nebulae are often named based on their key characteristics — particularly beautiful examples include the Ring Nebula (heic1310), the Horsehead Nebula (heic1307) and the Butterfly Nebula (heic0910). This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the centre of the Lagoon Nebula, otherwise known as Messier 8, in the constellation of Sagittarius (The Archer). The inspiration for this nebula’s name may not be immediately obvious — this is because the image captures only the very heart of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula’s name becomes much clearer in a wider field view (opo0417i) when the broad, lagoon-shaped dust lane that crosses the glowing gas of the nebula can be made out. Another clear difference between this new image and others is that this image combines both infrared and optical light rather than being purely optical(heic1015). Infrared light cuts through thick, obscuring patches of dust and gas, revealing the more intricate structures underneath and producing a completely different landscape [1]. However, even in visible light, the tranquil name remains misleading as the region is packed full of violent phenomena. The bright star embedded in dark clouds at the centre of this image is known as Herschel 36. This star is responsible for sculpting the surrounding cloud, stripping away material and influencing its shape. Herschel 36 is the main source of ionising radiation [2] for this part of the Lagoon Nebula. This central part of the Lagoon Nebula contains two main structures of gas and dust connected by wispy twisters, visible in the middle third of this image (opo9638). These features are quite similar to their namesakes on Earth — they are thought to be wrapped up into their funnel-like shapes by temperature differences between the hot surface and cold interior of the clouds. The nebula is also actively forming new stars, and energetic winds from these newborns may contribute to creating the twisters. This image combines images taken using optical and infrared light gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulson Laboratory) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image captured October 7, 2010 View a video of this event here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5099028189">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5099028189</a> This was a first for SDO and it was visually engaging too. On October 7, 2010, SDO observed its first lunar transit when the new Moon passed directly between the spacecraft (in its geosynchronous orbit) and the Sun. With SDO watching the Sun in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the dark Moon created a partial eclipse of the Sun. These images, while unusual and cool to see, have practical value to the SDO science team. Karel Schrijver of Lockheed-Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab explains: &quot;The very sharp edge of the lunar limb allows us to measure the in-orbit characteristics of the telescope e.g., light diffraction on optics and filter support grids. Once these are characterized, we can use that information to correct our data for instrumental effects and sharpen up the images to even more detail.&quot; To learn more about SDO go to: <a href="http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow">sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/</a> Credit: NASA/SDO <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

Date: 8 Nov 2013 - Comet ISON shines in this five-minute exposure taken at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on Nov. 8, 2013.. The image was captured using a color CCD camera attached to a 14&quot; telescope located at Marshall. At the time of this picture, comet ISON was 97 million miles from Earth, moving ever closer toward the sun. Credit: NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Taken on 19 Nov. 2013, this image shows a composite &quot;stacked&quot; image of comet ISON. These five stacked images of 10 seconds each were taken with the 20&quot; Marshall Space Flight Center telescope in New Mexico. This technique allows the comet's sweeping tail to emerge with more detail. Credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO/Cameron McCarty -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/39501</b>

To view a video of this story go to: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/8448332724">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/8448332724</a> Working with astronomical image processors at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., renowned astro-photographer Robert Gendler has taken science data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) archive and combined it with his own ground-based observations to assemble a photo illustration of the magnificent spiral galaxy M106. Gendler retrieved archival Hubble images of M106 to assemble a mosaic of the center of the galaxy. He then used his own and fellow astro-photographer Jay GaBany's observations of M106 to combine with the Hubble data in areas where there was less coverage, and finally, to fill in the holes and gaps where no Hubble data existed. The center of the galaxy is composed almost entirely of HST data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys, Wide Field Camera 3, and Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 detectors. The outer spiral arms are predominantly HST data colorized with ground-based data taken by Gendler's and GaBany's 12.5-inch and 20-inch telescopes, located at very dark remote sites in New Mexico. The image also reveals the optical component of the &quot;anomalous arms&quot; of M106, seen here as red, glowing hydrogen emission. To read more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/m106.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/m106.html</a> Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team), and G. Bacon (STScI) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Superficially resembling a skyrocket, Comet ISON is hurtling toward the Sun at a whopping 48,000 miles per hour. Its swift motion is captured in this image taken May 8, 2013, by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. At the time the image was taken, the comet was 403 million miles from Earth, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Unlike a firework, the comet is not combusting, but in fact is pretty cold. Its skyrocket-looking tail is really a streamer of gas and dust bleeding off the icy nucleus, which is surrounded by a bright, star-like-looking coma. The pressure of the solar wind sweeps the material into a tail, like a breeze blowing a windsock. As the comet warms as it moves closer to the Sun, its rate of sublimation will increase. The comet will get brighter and the tail grows longer. The comet is predicted to reach naked-eye visibility in November. The comet is named after the organization that discovered it, the Russia-based International Scientific Optical Network. This false-color, visible-light image was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scienti

This is an illustration of a supermassive black hole, weighing as much as 21 million suns, located in the middle of the ultradense galaxy M60-UCD1. The dwarf galaxy is so dense that millions of stars fill the sky as seen by an imaginary visitor. Because no light can escape from the black hole, it appears simply in silhouette against the starry background. The black hole's intense gravitational field warps the light of the background stars to form ring-like images just outside the dark edges of the black hole's event horizon. Combined observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and Gemini North telescope determined the presence of the black hole inside such a small and dense galaxy. More info: Astronomers using data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground observation have found an unlikely object in an improbable place -- a monster black hole lurking inside one of the tiniest galaxies ever known. The black hole is five times the mass of the one at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It is inside one of the densest galaxies known to date -- the M60-UCD1 dwarf galaxy that crams 140 million stars within a diameter of about 300 light-years, which is only 1/500th of our galaxy’s diameter. If you lived inside this dwarf galaxy, the night sky would dazzle with at least 1 million stars visible to the naked eye. Our nighttime sky as seen from Earth’s surface shows 4,000 stars. The finding implies there are many other compact galaxies in the universe that contain supermassive black holes. The observation also suggests dwarf galaxies may actually be the stripped remnants of larger galaxies that were torn apart during collisions with other galaxies rather than small islands of stars born in isolation. “We don’t know of any other way you could make a black hole so big in an object this small,” said University of Utah astronomer Anil Seth, lead author of an international study of the dwarf galaxy published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Seth’s team of astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North 8-meter optical and infrared telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to observe M60-UCD1 and measure the black hole’s mass. The sharp Hubble images provide information about the galaxy’s diameter and stellar density. Gemini measures the stellar motions as affected by the black hole’s pull. These data are used to calculate the mass of the black hole. Black holes are gravitationally collapsed, ultra-compact objects that have a gravitational pull so strong that even light cannot escape. Supermassive black holes -- those with the mass of at least one million stars like our sun -- are thought to be at the centers of many galaxies. The black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy has the mass of four million suns. As heavy as that is, it is less than 0.01 percent of the Milky Way’s total mass. By comparison, the supermassive black hole at the center of M60-UCD1, which has the mass of 21 million suns, is a stunning 15 percent of the small galaxy’s total mass. “That is pretty amazing, given that the Milky Way is 500 times larger and more than 1,000 times heavier than the dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1,” Seth said. One explanation is that M60-UCD1 was once a large galaxy containing 10 billion stars, but then it passed very close to the center of an even larger galaxy, M60, and in that process all the stars and dark matter in the outer part of the galaxy were torn away and became part of M60. The team believes that M60-UCD1 may eventually be pulled to fully merge with M60, which has its own monster black hole that weighs a whopping 4.5 billion solar masses, or more than 1,000 times bigger than the black hole in our galaxy. When that happens, the black holes in both galaxies also likely will merge. Both galaxies are 50 million light-years away. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/hubble" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/hubble</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Far beyond the stars in the constellation of Leo (The Lion) is irregular galaxy IC 559. IC 559 is not your everyday galaxy. With its irregular shape and bright blue spattering of stars, it is a fascinating galactic anomaly. It may look like sparse cloud, but it is in fact full of gas and dust which is spawning new stars. Discovered in 1893, IC 559 lacks the symmetrical spiral appearance of some of its galactic peers and not does not conform to a regular shape. It is actually classified as a “type Sm” galaxy — an irregular galaxy with some evidence for a spiral structure. Irregular galaxies make up about a quarter of all known galaxies and do not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence. Most of these uniquely shaped galaxies were not always so — IC 559 may have once been a conventional spiral galaxy that was then distorted and twisted by the gravity of a nearby cosmic companion. This image, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3, combines a wide range of wavelengths spanning the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared parts of the spectrum. Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, D. Calzetti (UMass) and the LEGUS Team <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Image released April 19, 2013. Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light. <b>Credit:</b> NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/horsehead-different.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">More on this image.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Dressed in a cleanroom suit to prevent contamination, Optics Technician Jeff Gum aligns a replacement Focal Plane Assembly (FPA) with a powerful three-dimensional microscope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. This FPA will be installed on the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument, which has unique components that are individually tailored to see in a particular infrared wavelength range. By using the microscope, Gum ensures the FPA detectors are characterized and ready for installation onto NIRCam, the James Webb Space Telescope's primary imager that will see the light from the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the universe. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) will fly on the next Landsat satellite, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The right side of the instrument is what's called the 'nadir side,' that's the side that points toward Earth when the instrument is in space. The black circle visible on the right side is where the optics for the instrument are located. In that area are the lens and the detectors. The white area is a radiator that radiates heat to keep the telescope and the detector cool. The black hole on the white area on the left is what the satellite operators point to deep space when they calibrate the instrument to the cold temperatures of space. TIRS was built on an accelerated schedule at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. and will now be integrated into the LDCM spacecraft at Orbital Science Corp. in Gilbert, Ariz. The Landsat Program is a series of Earth observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. Landsat satellites have been consistently gathering data about our planet since 1972. They continue to improve and expand this unparalleled record of Earth's changing landscapes for the benefit of all. For more information on Landsat, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/landsat" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/landsat</a> Credit: NASA/GSFC/Rebecca Roth <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

NASA image release August 5, 2010 A beautiful new image of two colliding galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like &quot;arms,&quot; seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision. The collision, which began more than 100 million years ago and is still occurring, has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies. The most massive of these young stars have already sped through their evolution in a few million years and exploded as supernovas. The X-ray image from Chandra shows huge clouds of hot, interstellar gas that have been injected with rich deposits of elements from supernova explosions. This enriched gas, which includes elements such as oxygen, iron, magnesium, and silicon, will be incorporated into new generations of stars and planets. The bright, point-like sources in the image are produced by material falling onto black holes and neutron stars that are remnants of the massive stars. Some of these black holes may have masses that are almost one hundred times that of the Sun. The Spitzer data show infrared light from warm dust clouds that have been heated by newborn stars, with the brightest clouds lying in the overlapping region between the two galaxies. The Hubble data reveal old stars and star-forming regions in gold and white, while filaments of dust appear in brown. Many of the fainter objects in the optical image are clusters containing thousands of stars. The Chandra image was taken in December 1999. The Spitzer image was taken in December 2003. The Hubble image was taken in July 2004, and February 2005. To read more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/antennae.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/multimedia/antennae.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a><b></b></b> Credit: NASA, ESA, SAO, CXC, JPL-Caltech, and STScI Acknowledgment: G. Fabbiano and Z. Wang (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), and B. Whitmore (STScI)

This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows what astronomers are referring to as a "snake" (upper left) and its surrounding stormy environment. The sinuous object is actually the core of a thick, sooty cloud large enough to swallow dozens of solar systems. In fact, astronomers say the "snake's belly" may be harboring beastly stars in the process of forming. The galactic creepy crawler to the right of the snake is another thick cloud core, in which additional burgeoning massive stars might be lurking. The colorful regions below the two cloud cores are less dense cloud material, in which dust has been heated by starlight and glows with infrared light. Yellow and orange dots throughout the image are monstrous developing stars; the red star on the "belly" of the snake is 20 to 50 times as massive as our sun. The blue dots are foreground stars. The red ball at the bottom left is a "supernova remnant," the remains of massive star that died in a fiery blast. Astronomers speculate that radiation and winds from the star before it died, in addition to a shock wave created when it exploded, might have played a role in creating the snake. Spitzer was able to spot the two black cloud cores using its heat-seeking infrared vision. The objects are hiding in the dusty plane of our Milky Way galaxy, invisible to optical telescopes. Because their heat, or infrared light, can sneak through the dust, they first showed up in infrared images from past missions. The cloud cores are so thick with dust that if you were to somehow transport yourself into the middle of them, you would see nothing but black, not even a star in the sky. Now, that's spooky! Spitzer's view of the region provides the best look yet at the massive embryonic stars hiding inside the snake. Astronomers say these observations will ultimately help them better understand how massive stars form. By studying the clustering and range of masses of the stellar embryos, they hope to determine if the stars were born in the same way that our low-mass sun was formed - out of a collapsing cloud of gas and dust - or by another mechanism in which the environment plays a larger role. The snake is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. This false-color image is a composite of infrared data taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue represents 3.6-micron light; green shows light of 8 microns; and red is 24-micron light. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01318

NASA image release January 6, 2010 Caption: Spicules on the sun, as observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. These bursts of gas jet off the surface of the sun at 150,000 miles per hour and contain gas that reaches temperatures over a million degrees. GREENBELT, Md. -- Observations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Japanese satellite Hinode show that some gas in the giant, fountain-like jets in the sun's atmosphere known as spicules can reach temperatures of millions of degrees. The finding offers a possible new framework for how the sun's high atmosphere gets so much hotter than the surface of the sun. What makes the high atmosphere, or corona, so hot – over a million degrees, compared to the sun surface's 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- remains a poorly understood aspect of the sun's complicated space weather system. That weather system can reach Earth, causing auroral lights and, if strong enough, disrupting Earth's communications and power systems. Understanding such phenomena, therefore, is an important step towards better protecting our satellites and power grids. &quot;The traditional view is that all the heating happens higher up in the corona,&quot; says Dean Pesnell, who is SDO's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. &quot;The suggestion in this paper is that cool gas is being ejected from the sun's surface in spicules and getting heated on its way to the corona.&quot; Spicules were first named in the 1940s, but were hard to study in detail until recently, says Bart De Pontieu of Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif. who is the lead author on a paper on this subject in the January 7, 2011 issue of Science magazine. In visible light, spicules can be seen to send large masses of so-called plasma – the electromagnetic gas that surrounds the sun – up through the lower solar atmosphere or photosphere. The amount of material sent up is stunning, some 100 times as much as streams away from the sun in the solar wind towards the edges of the solar system. But nobody knew if they contained hot gas. &quot;Heating of spicules to the necessary hot temperatures has never been observed, so their role in coronal heating had been dismissed as unlikely,&quot; says De Pontieu. Now, De Pontieu's team -- which included researchers at Lockheed Martin, the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado and the University of Oslo, Norway -- was able to combine images from SDO and Hinode to produce a more complete picture of the gas inside these gigantic fountains. The scientists found that a large fraction of the gas is heated to a hundred thousand degrees, while a small fraction is heated to millions of degrees. Time-lapsed images show that this material spews up into the corona, with most falling back down towards the surface of the sun. However, the small fraction of the gas that is heated to millions of degrees does not immediately return to the surface. Given the large number of spicules on the Sun, and the amount of material in the spicules, the scientists believe that if even some of that super hot plasma stays aloft it would make a contribution to coronal heating. Astrophysicist Jonathan Cirtain, who is the U.S. project scientist for Hinode at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., says that incorporating such new information helps address an important question that reaches far beyond the sun. &quot;This breakthrough in our understanding of the mechanisms which transfer energy from the solar photosphere to the corona addresses one of the most compelling questions in stellar astrophysics: How is the atmosphere of a star heated?&quot; he says. &quot;This is a fantastic discovery, and demonstrates the muscle of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, comprised of numerous instruments on multiple observatories.&quot; Hinode is the second mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, the goal of which is to improve understanding of fundamental solar and space physics processes. The mission is led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The collaborative mission includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, Norway and Europe. NASA Marshall manages Hinode U.S. science operations and oversaw development of the scientific instrumentation provided for the mission by NASA, academia and industry. The Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center is the lead U.S. investigator for the Solar Optical Telescope on Hinode. SDO is the first mission in a NASA science program called Living With a Star, the goal of which is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. NASA Goddard built, operates, and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. To learn more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/news20110106-spicules.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/news20110106-spicules...</a> Credit: NASA Goddard/SDO/AIA <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

In this modeled image of ISON, the coma has been subtracted, leaving behind the nucleus. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and Jian-Yang Li (Planetary Science Institute) -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

On April 30, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed Comet ISON again. The comet is in the upper middle, showing the long tail. Various galaxies and stars appear behind it. In this image, Hubble trained its telescope on the stars instead of following the comet. The result is that the comet appears fuzzier, but the stars and galaxies are more detailed and precise. These dimmer features don't pop out if the camera is moving, following along with ISON. To see them, you really need to dwell in one place until they emerge from the noise. Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Date: 19 Nov 2013 Comet ISON shows off its tail in this three-minute exposure taken on 19 Nov. 2013 at 6:10 a.m. EST, using a 14-inch telescope located at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The comet is just nine days away from its close encounter with the sun; hopefully it will survive to put on a nice show during the first week of December. The star images are trailed because the telescope is tracking on the comet, which is now exhibiting obvious motion with respect to the background stars over a period of minutes. At the time of this image, Comet ISON was some 44 million miles from the sun -- and 80 million miles from Earth -- moving at a speed of 136,700 miles per hour. Credit: NASA/MSFC/Aaron Kingery -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/39501</b>

The brightly glowing plumes seen in this image are reminiscent of an underwater scene, with turquoise-tinted currents and nebulous strands reaching out into the surroundings. However, this is no ocean. This image actually shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small nearby galaxy that orbits our galaxy, the Milky Way, and appears as a blurred blob in our skies. The NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope has peeked many times into this galaxy, releasing stunning images of the whirling clouds of gas and sparkling stars (opo9944a, heic1301, potw1408a). This image shows part of the Tarantula Nebula's outskirts. This famously beautiful nebula, located within the LMC, is a frequent target for Hubble (heic1206, heic1402). In most images of the LMC the color is completely different to that seen here. This is because, in this new image, a different set of filters was used. The customary R filter, which selects the red light, was replaced by a filter letting through the near-infrared light. In traditional images, the hydrogen gas appears pink because it shines most brightly in the red. Here however, other less prominent emission lines dominate in the blue and green filters. This data is part of the Archival Pure Parallel Project (APPP), a project that gathered together and processed over 1,000 images taken using Hubble’s Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, obtained in parallel with other Hubble instruments. Much of the data in the project could be used to study a wide range of astronomical topics, including gravitational lensing and cosmic shear, exploring distant star-forming galaxies, supplementing observations in other wavelength ranges with optical data, and examining star populations from stellar heavyweights all the way down to solar-mass stars. Image Credit: ESA/Hubble &amp; NASA: acknowledgement: Josh Barrington <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet (C/2012 S1) ISON was photographed on April 10, 2013, when the comet was slightly closer than Jupiter's orbit at a distance of 394 million miles from Earth. Even at that great distance the comet is already active as sunlight warms the surface and causes frozen volatiles to boil off. Astronomers used such early images to try to measure the size of the nucleus, in order to predict whether the comet would stay intact when it slingshots around the sun -- at 700,000 miles above the sun's surface -- on Nov. 28, 2013. The comet's dusty coma, or head of the comet, is approximately 3,100 miles across, or 1.2 times the width of Australia. A dust tail extends more than 57,000 miles, far beyond Hubble's field of view. This image was taken in visible light. The blue false color was added to bring out details in the comet structure. Credit: NASA/ ESA/STScI/AURA -------- More details on Comet ISON: Comet ISON began its trip from the Oort cloud region of our solar system and is now travelling toward the sun. The comet will reach its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- 28 Nov 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun's surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. Catalogued as C/2012 S1, Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012. This is ISON's very first trip around the sun, which means it is still made of pristine matter from the earliest days of the solar system’s formation, its top layers never having been lost by a trip near the sun. Comet ISON is, like all comets, a dirty snowball made up of dust and frozen gases like water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide -- some of the fundamental building blocks that scientists believe led to the formation of the planets 4.5 billion years ago. NASA has been using a vast fleet of spacecraft, instruments, and space- and Earth-based telescope, in order to learn more about this time capsule from when the solar system first formed. The journey along the way for such a sun-grazing comet can be dangerous. A giant ejection of solar material from the sun could rip its tail off. Before it reaches Mars -- at some 230 million miles away from the sun -- the radiation of the sun begins to boil its water, the first step toward breaking apart. And, if it survives all this, the intense radiation and pressure as it flies near the surface of the sun could destroy it altogether. This collection of images show ISON throughout that journey, as scientists watched to see whether the comet would break up or remain intact. The comet reaches its closest approach to the sun on Thanksgiving Day -- Nov. 28, 2013 -- skimming just 730,000 miles above the sun’s surface. If it comes around the sun without breaking up, the comet will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere with the naked eye, and from what we see now, ISON is predicted to be a particularly bright and beautiful comet. ISON stands for International Scientific Optical Network, a group of observatories in ten countries who have organized to detect, monitor, and track objects in space. ISON is managed by the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Godd</b>