1/25: Webb Space Telescope NASA Social (MD)

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what's the most powerful telescope of all? NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, and now's your chance to see it under construction. NASA is hosting an event for its social media followers on Monday, Jan. 25, in celebration of the installation of the telescope's mirrors at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

This NASA Social will bring social media users together at NASA Goddard to view the massive mirrors on JWST. JWST has 18 gold-coated mirror segments that are being installed on a giant structure, to form a single primary mirror that is nearly 22 feet in diameter! (6.5 meters) The segments have been installed with the use of a robotic arm. Participants will also get behind-the-scenes tours of the center's satellite and testing facilities and hear presentations by NASA scientists and engineers.

JWST is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will launch later this decade and be the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever. JWST will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way galaxy, and allow us to explore planets around distant stars.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

Observe the construction of the JWST, in one of the world's largest cleanrooms.
Get a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA Goddard's world-class integration and test facilities that will ensure that JWST and other spacecraft and instruments will successfully survive the rigors of launch.
Have one-on-one interactions with JWST scientists, engineers, and other NASA leaders.
Hear about the engineering challenges of building the massive space telescope from NASA scientists and engineers.

NASA Social media accreditation opens on this page on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and the deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Jan. 10. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.