The James Webb Space Telescope Mission: Optical Telescope Element Design, Development, and Performance

• Main Authors: McElwain, Michael W, Feinberg, Lee D, Perrin, Marshall D, Clampin, Mark, Mountain, C. Matt, Lallo, Matthew D, Lajoie, Charles-Philippe, Bowers, Charles W, Stark, Christopher C, Acton, D. Scott, Aiello, Ken, Atkinson, Charles, Barinek, Beth, Basinger, Scott, Beck, Tracy, Bergkoetter, Matthew D, Bluth, Marcel, Boucarut, Rene A, Brooks, Keira J, Brown, Bob, Carey, Larkin, Carrasquilla, Maria, Celeste, Sid, Chae, Dan, Chayer, Pierre, Chonis, Taylor, Cohen, Lester, Cole, Helen J, Comeau, Thomas M, Coppock, Eric, Davis, Rick, Dean, Bruce H, Eisenhower, Michael, Franck, Randy, Gallagher, Benjamin, Gilman, Larry, Glassman, Tiffany, Golnik, Gary, Green, Joseph J, Grieco, John, Haase, Shari, Hahn, Walter G, Hartig, George F, Hellekson, Robert, Huguet, Jesse A, Jahne, Brian, Johnson, Leslie A, Johnston, John D, Jurling, Alden S, Kennard, Scott, Keski-Kuha, Ritva A, Knight, J. Scott, Kulp, Bernard A, Levi, Joshua S, Levine, Marie B, Lightsey, Paul, Luetgens, Robert A, Mather, John C, McKay, Andrew G, Mosier, Gary E, Murphy, Jess, Niedner, Malcolm B, Noël, Darin M, Ohara, Catherine M, Ohl, Raymond G, Olczak, Eugene, Park, Sang, Patton, Kevin, Pueyo, Laurent, Quesnel, Lisbeth, Ranck, Dale, Redding, David C, Regan, Michael W, Reynolds, Paul, Rigby, Jane R, Sabatke, Derek, Saif, Babak N, Scorse, Thomas R, Shi, Fang, Sigrist, Norbert, Smith, Koby, Smith, J. Scott, Smith, Erin C, Sohn, Sangmo Tony, Spina, John, Telfer, Randal, Terlecki, Todd, Texter, Scott C, Van Buren, David, Van Campen, Julie M, Vila, Begoña, Voyton, Mark F, Waldman, Mark, Weiser, Nick, Wells, Conrad, West, Garrett, Whitman, Tony L, Wick, Eric, Wolf, Erin, Zielinski, Thomas P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-01-2023
• Subjects: Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2301.01779

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared space telescope
that has recently started its science program which will enable breakthroughs
in astrophysics and planetary science. Notably, JWST will provide the very
first observations of the earliest luminous objects in the Universe and start a
new era of exoplanet atmospheric characterization. This transformative science
is enabled by a 6.6 m telescope that is passively cooled with a 5-layer
sunshield. The primary mirror is comprised of 18 controllable, low areal
density hexagonal segments, that were aligned and phased relative to each other
in orbit using innovative image-based wavefront sensing and control algorithms.
This revolutionary telescope took more than two decades to develop with a
widely distributed team across engineering disciplines. We present an overview
of the telescope requirements, architecture, development, superb on-orbit
performance, and lessons learned. JWST successfully demonstrates a segmented
aperture space telescope and establishes a path to building even larger space
telescopes.