From The Archives: Building Earth's Biggest Space Telescope

A Ball Aerospace engineer prepares the glass illumination ground support optics (background) beryllium flight spare Secondary Mirror Assembly (foreground) for cryogenic optical hexapod motion testing at -400F for the James Webb Space Telescope. 

Prime contractor Northrop Grumman, key suppliers such as Ball and an international team of instrument builders are developing new technologies for the JWST's 6.5-meter infrared telescope, which will be the world's largest orbiting observatory (see page 59). 

Now set for launch mid-2014, the JWST will take scientists back nearly to the Big Bang and the early formation of the first objects in the universe. 

See the cover of the May 31, 2010 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology 

Read the feature on page 59 - First Light: James Webb's Big IR Puts Astronomers Close To The Big Bang

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