JWST: The European Contribution

摘要

The James Web Space Telescope, formerly known as The Next Generation Space Telescope will be, as the old name implies, the successor of the highly successful Hubble Space Telescope. The initial proposal for the mission was made in 1996 and since then ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have being studying options that have culminated in the mission that is being implemented today. A major policy change with respect to the Hubble ST is that JWST is not designed as a serviceable mission but will be stationed at the Sun-Earth Libration point SEL2, some 1.5 .10~6 Km from the Earth in the anti-Sun direction.