A Stellar Achievement: NASA’s Webb Telescope Honored With Michael Collins Trophy

Webb 2023 Michael Collins Trophy

Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, accepts the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime and Present Achievements from Christopher Browne, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Air and House Museum. The trophy was awarded to the crew behind NASA’s James Webb House Telescope in a ceremony on the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Heart in Chantilly, Virginia, on March 23, 2023. Credit score: Smithsonian’s Nationwide Air and House Museum

NASA’s James Webb House Telescope crew was chosen to obtain the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime and Present Achievements. This annual award from the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Air and House Museum honors excellent achievements within the fields of aerospace science and expertise, and their historical past.

“The James Webb House Telescope crew’s dedication and ingenuity is an inspiration to the world,” mentioned NASA Affiliate Administrator Bob Cabana. “The partnerships that make this mission potential signify the perfect of humanity and are vital to enabling us to make use of Webb to know our universe higher.”

The award was introduced throughout a ceremony on the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Heart in Chantilly, Virginia, on March 23.

“The 2023 Collins Trophy recipients have helped people perceive their place on this Earth,” mentioned Chris Browne, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum. “The James Webb Telescope has likewise given us new views on the universe.”

James Webb Space Telescope Rotating

James Webb House telescope. Credit score: NASA’s Goddard House Flight Heart Conceptual Picture Lab

Launched on December 25, 2021, Webb is the biggest and strongest house science telescope ever constructed. In July 2022, the Webb crew formally started Webb’s mission to discover the infrared universe.

“Congratulations to the James Webb House Telescope crew for pushing the boundaries to disclose our historical past by way of the earliest, most distant galaxies that shine within the cosmos,” mentioned Nicola Fox, affiliate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “The awe-inspiring photographs and spectra are already delivering on Webb’s promise to unlock a brand new period of science.”

With its optics performing practically twice in addition to the mission required, Webb is discovering a number of the earliest galaxies ever noticed, peering by way of dusty clouds to see stars forming, and delivering a extra detailed view of the atmospheres of planets exterior our photo voltaic system than ever earlier than. Webb has additionally captured new views of planets inside our photo voltaic system, together with the clearest take a look at Neptune’s rings in many years. The Collins Trophy award acknowledges the extraordinary accomplishments and important contributions of the crew members who designed, developed, and now function the Webb mission.

WR 124 (Webb NIRCam and MIRI Composite Image)

The luminous, sizzling star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is outstanding on the middle of the James Webb House Telescope’s composite picture combining near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of sunshine from Webb’s Close to-Infrared Digicam and Mid-Infrared Instrument. Credit score: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Manufacturing Workforce

“The James Webb House Telescope is permitting us to check a time when the primary stars and galaxies fashioned within the universe. This wonderful achievement has been made potential over a few years by the dedication of the 1000's of individuals on the crew, who've pushed the boundaries of expertise to ship this spectacular house telescope,” mentioned Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Clampin delivered remarks after accepting the 2023 Collins Trophy on March 23, on behalf of the Webb crew.

Winners obtain a trophy that includes a miniature model of the “Internet of House” sculpture, which was created by John Safer from Washington, D.C. The award was established in 1985 and was renamed in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins in 2020.

Webb, a world mission led by NASA with its companions ESA (European House Company) and CSA (Canadian House Company), is the world’s premier house science observatory. Its design pushed the boundaries of house telescope capabilities to unravel mysteries in our photo voltaic system, look past to distant worlds round different stars, and probe the mysterious buildings and origins of our universe and our place in it.

Just lately, the Webb mission’s accomplishments even have been acknowledged by organizations together with the House Basis, Science, Nationwide House Membership and Basis, Aviation Week, Bloomberg Businessweek, In style Science, and TIME.

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