Jan 5 2018

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-003 NASA Hosts Media to Discuss Testing on James Webb Space Telescope

Media are invited to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 10, to hear about the results of recent cryogenic vacuum tests on the James Webb Space Telescope, and the next steps on the observatory path to space.

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Participants will be:

• Ellen Ochoa, Johnson center director and veteran NASA astronaut
• Bill Ochs, Webb telescope project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
• Jonathan Homan, project manager for Webb telescope Chamber A Test Team at Johnson
• Mark Voyton, Webb telescope Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science Instrument Module (OTIS) manager at Goddard

U.S. media who would like to participate in person must call the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9. Reporters who wish to participate by telephone must call Johnson's newsroom no later than 1:45 p.m. Jan. 10. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using the hashtag #askNASA.

Webb was tested as a complete optical system in Chamber A at Johnson, which mimics the space environment the telescope will experience during its mission. Built in 1965 to conduct thermal-vacuum testing on the Apollo command and service modules, Chamber A is the largest structure of its kind in the world and is a listed National Historic Landmark.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier infrared space observatory of the next decade. Webb will help to solve mysteries of our solar system, look to distant worlds orbiting other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-004 Puerto Rico Students to Speak with NASA Astronaut on Space Station

Several hundred students from 30 schools across Puerto Rico will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 11:15 a.m. EST Friday, Jan. 12. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Students will travel to Manatí, Puerto Rico, for the call to Expedition 54 astronaut Joe Acaba aboard the space station, and will have an opportunity to ask questions about life aboard the space station, NASA’s deep space exploration plans, and doing science in space.

Although Acaba is a native Californian, both of his parents were born in Puerto Rico. Acaba arrived at the space station on Sept. 12 on his third space mission, and is scheduled to return to Earth in February.

Some 30 school districts from 12 cities participate in the Puerto Rico Institute of Robotics’ (PRIOR) network, which was selected through a competitive process to host a downlink with the station. PRIOR is a dynamic collaboration of educators, business leaders and representative from local government and the military, working to introduce and link students, teachers, and the community to the vast array of space, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources in their region.

Students from across the participating districts have been preparing for the event by studying the space station, astronaut biographies, and the current research and activities happening aboard the station. More than 500 attendees are expected to be on-site at Manatí during the downlink event.

Media interested in attending the event should contact Wence Lopez via email at wence@goprior.com or phone at 787-385-1200. Juan Aubin Cruz Coliseum will host the event at Coto Sur, Manatí, Puerto Rico.

Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in STEM. This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA’s Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators.