NASA's Next-Generation Space Observatory Comes to Baltimore

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Oct 13, 2011, 01:36 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media representatives are invited to an up-close look at a full-size model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center, located at 601 Light Street in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO )

The model will be displayed from Oct. 14-26 as part of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) annual conference being held in Baltimore. ASTC is a nonprofit organization of science centers and museums dedicated to furthering public engagement with science among increasingly diverse audiences. Several supporting activities are planned with scientists and engineers to talk about the unprecedented science capabilities of the largest space telescope ever built.

On Friday, Oct. 14, at 2 p.m. EDT, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will make brief remarks, take questions from reporters and tour the Webb model.

A press conference will culminate the 13-day public display on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 9:45 a.m., at the Maryland Science Center. Participants will include:
- U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver
- John Mather, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics and Webb telescope senior project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
- Adam Riess, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, professor of astronomy and physics at the Johns Hopkins University, and a senior member of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore
- Riccardo Giacconi, recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics and university professor at the Johns Hopkins University
- John Grunsfeld, deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and a former astronaut who participated in three spaceflights to service Hubble

For more information or access to events, media representatives should contact Lynn Chandler at 301-286-2806 or [email protected].

The Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed and explore planets around distant stars. The unique observatory is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope, visit:

http://jwst.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA