REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Oct. 8, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) full-scale model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope resumes its world tour with a stop in Munich, Germany. The model will be on display Oct. 13-28 at the Deutsches Museum, courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and EADS Astrium Aerospace GmbH. This special viewing occurs in conjunction with the James Webb Space Telescope Partners' Workshop being held in Munich, Oct. 13-17.
The Webb Telescope, successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, will be NASA's premier space observatory following its launch in 2013. It will orbit 940,000 miles from the Earth at the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point, capturing infrared images of every phase of our cosmic history -- from the first luminous objects to the assembly of galaxies and formation of planetary systems.
The model's last public appearance was three months ago in Montreal where scientists, school children, media and the general public had the rare opportunity to view this tennis court-sized space observatory model up close and learn about its mission from Webb's international team of scientists and engineers. Over the last three years, the model has been displayed at similar events in Dublin, Ireland; Paris; Washington, D.C.; Rochester, N.Y.; Greenbelt, Md., and Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Webb Telescope is an international collaboration led by NASA and includes partners from the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the development effort. NASA's industry partner is Northrop Grumman Space Technology in Redondo Beach, Calif., and its teammates Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., ATK and ITT. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., is responsible for science and mission operations, as well as ground system development.
EADS Astrium GmbH, partnering with NASA to sponsor the model display, is building the NIRSpec instrument for the Webb Telescope, one of four science instruments onboard the observatory. The 200 kg (441 pounds) spectrograph will be able to detect extremely faint radiation from some of the most distant galaxies and observe more than 100 objects simultaneously.
Representatives from the Webb Telescope science and engineering team will be on hand to answer questions from museum visitors.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.