The James Webb Space Telescope Mission
Jonathan P.
Gardner, John C.
Mather, Randy
Abbott, and
197 more authors
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Jun 2023
Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least 4 m. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the 6.5 m James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 yr, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.
@article{2023PASP..135f8001G,
author = {{Gardner}, Jonathan P. and {Mather}, John C. and {Abbott}, Randy and {Abell}, James S. and {Abernathy}, Mark and {Abney}, Faith E. and {Abraham}, John G. and {Abraham}, Roberto and {Abul-Huda}, Yasin M. and {Acton}, Scott and {Adams}, Cynthia K. and {Adams}, Evan and {Adler}, David S. and {Adriaensen}, Maarten and {Aguilar}, Jonathan Albert and {Ahmed}, Mansoor and {Ahmed}, Nasif S. and {Ahmed}, Tanjira and {Albat}, R{\"u}deger and {Albert}, Lo{\"\i}c and {Alberts}, Stacey and {Aldridge}, David and {Allen}, Mary Marsha and {Allen}, Shaune S. and {Altenburg}, Martin and {Altunc}, Serhat and {Alvarez}, Jose Lorenzo and {{\'A}lvarez-M{\'a}rquez}, Javier and {Alves de Oliveira}, Catarina and {Ambrose}, Leslie L. and {Anandakrishnan}, Satya M. and {Andersen}, Gregory C. and {Anderson}, Harry James and {Anderson}, Jay and {Anderson}, Kristen and {Anderson}, Sara M. and {Aprea}, Julio and {Archer}, Benita J. and {Arenberg}, Jonathan W. and {Argyriou}, Ioannis and {Arribas}, Santiago and {Artigau}, {\'E}tienne and {Arvai}, Amanda Rose and {Atcheson}, Paul and {Atkinson}, Charles B. and {Averbukh}, Jesse and {Aymergen}, Cagatay and {Bacinski}, John J. and {Baggett}, Wayne E. and {Bagnasco}, Giorgio and {Baker}, Lynn L. and {Balzano}, Vicki Ann and {Banks}, Kimberly A. and {Baran}, David A. and {Barker}, Elizabeth A. and {Barrett}, Larry K. and {Barringer}, Bruce O. and {Barto}, Allison and {Bast}, William and {Baudoz}, Pierre and {Baum}, Stefi and {Beatty}, Thomas G. and {Beaulieu}, Mathilde and {Bechtold}, Kathryn and {Beck}, Tracy and {Beddard}, Megan M. and {Beichman}, Charles and {Bellagama}, Larry and {Bely}, Pierre and {Berger}, Timothy W. and {Bergeron}, Louis E. and {Bernier}, Antoine-Darveau and {Bertch}, Maria D. and {Beskow}, Charlotte and {Betz}, Laura E. and {Biagetti}, Carl P. and {Birkmann}, Stephan and {Bjorklund}, Kurt F. and {Blackwood}, James D. and {Blazek}, Ronald Paul and {Blossfeld}, Stephen and {Bluth}, Marcel and {Boccaletti}, Anthony and {Boegner}, Jr., Martin E. and {Bohlin}, Ralph C. and {Boia}, John Joseph and {B{\"o}ker}, Torsten and {Bonaventura}, N. and {Bond}, Nicholas A. and {Bosley}, Kari Ann and {Boucarut}, Rene A. and {Bouchet}, Patrice and {Bouwman}, Jeroen and {Bower}, Gary and {Bowers}, Ariel S. and {Bowers}, Charles W. and {Boyce}, Leslye A. and {Boyer}, Christine T. and {Boyer}, Martha L. and {Boyer}, Michael and {Boyer}, Robert and {Bradley}, Larry D. and {Brady}, Gregory R. and {Brandl}, Bernhard R. and {Brannen}, Judith L. and {Breda}, David and {Bremmer}, Harold G. and {Brennan}, David and {Bresnahan}, Pamela A. and {Bright}, Stacey N. and {Broiles}, Brian J. and {Bromenschenkel}, Asa and {Brooks}, Brian H. and {Brooks}, Keira J. and {Brown}, Bob and {Brown}, Bruce and {Brown}, Thomas M. and {Bruce}, Barry W. and {Bryson}, Jonathan G. and {Bujanda}, Edwin D. and {Bullock}, Blake M. and {Bunker}, A. J. and {Bureo}, Rafael and {Burt}, Irving J. and {Bush}, James Aaron and {Bushouse}, Howard A. and {Bussman}, Marie C. and {Cabaud}, Olivier and {Cale}, Steven and {Calhoon}, Charles D. and {Calvani}, Humberto and {Canipe}, Alicia M. and {Caputo}, Francis M. and {Cara}, Mihai and {Carey}, Larkin and {Case}, Michael Eli and {Cesari}, Thaddeus and {Cetorelli}, Lee D. and {Chance}, Don R. and {Chandler}, Lynn and {Chaney}, Dave and {Chapman}, George N. and {Charlot}, S. and {Chayer}, Pierre and {Cheezum}, Jeffrey I. and {Chen}, Bin and {Chen}, Christine H. and {Cherinka}, Brian and {Chichester}, Sarah C. and {Chilton}, Zachary S. and {Chittiraibalan}, Dharini and {Clampin}, Mark and {Clark}, Charles R. and {Clark}, Kerry W. and {Clark}, Stephanie M. and {Claybrooks}, Edward E. and {Cleveland}, Keith A. and {Cohen}, Andrew L. and {Cohen}, Lester M. and {Col{\'o}n}, Knicole D. and {Coleman}, Benee L. and {Colina}, Luis and {Comber}, Brian J. and {Comeau}, Thomas M. and {Comer}, Thomas and {Conde Reis}, Alain and {Connolly}, Dennis C. and {Conroy}, Kyle E. and {Contos}, Adam R. and {Contreras}, James and {Cook}, Neil J. and {Cooper}, James L. and {Cooper}, Rachel Aviva and {Correia}, Michael F. and {Correnti}, Matteo and {Cossou}, Christophe and {Costanza}, Brian F. and {Coulais}, Alain and {Cox}, Colin R. and {Coyle}, Ray T. and {Cracraft}, Misty M. and {Crew}, Keith A. and {Curtis}, Gary J. and {Cusveller}, Bianca and {Da Costa Maciel}, Cleyciane and {Dailey}, Christopher T. and {Daugeron}, Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric and {Davidson}, Greg S. and {Davies}, James E. and {Davis}, Katherine Anne and {Davis}, Michael S. and {Day}, Ratna and {de Chambure}, Daniel and {de Jong}, Pauline and {De Marchi}, Guido and {Dean}, Bruce H. and {Decker}, John E. and {Delisa}, Amy S. and {Dell}, Lawrence C. and {Dellagatta}, Gail},
title = {{The James Webb Space Telescope Mission}},
journal = {\pasp},
keywords = {Space vehicle instruments, Astronomical instrumentation, Infrared astronomy, Infrared observatories, Space observatories, History of astronomy, 1548, 799, 786, 791, 1543, 1868, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics},
year = {2023},
month = jun,
volume = {135},
number = {1048},
eid = {068001},
pages = {068001},
doi = {10.1088/1538-3873/acd1b5},
archiveprefix = {arXiv},
eprint = {2304.04869},
primaryclass = {astro-ph.IM},
adsurl = {https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023PASP..135f8001G},
adsnote = {Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System},
dimensions = {true},
altmetric = {145552555},
lrdindex = {13},
month_numeric = {6}
}