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By NASA
3 min read
NASA’s Webb Receives IAF Excellence in Industry Award
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) has awarded its Excellence in Industry Award to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The award will be presented at the 2023 International Astronautical Congress, taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 through Oct. 6, 2023.
Artist Concept for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.NASA The IAF Excellence in Industry Award is intended to distinguish organizations worldwide for introducing innovative space technologies to the global marketplace.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will accept the award on behalf of NASA. The award recognizes the contributions of the team that designed, developed, and now operates Webb, which also includes ESA (European Space Agency), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Northrop Grumman.
“The James Webb Space Telescope continues to astound us,” said Melroy. “We are only a little over a year into Webb’s science mission, and already it has solved longstanding mysteries about the early universe and opened up exciting new questions in the search for habitable worlds. These transformative discoveries are only possible thanks to the massive, international team that worked for decades to make Webb a reality. I can’t wait to see where Webb’s mission to explore the secrets of the universe takes us next.”
Launched Dec. 25, 2021, after more than a decade of preparation, Webb successfully performed a complex series of deployments shortly after leaving Earth orbit.
About a month later, the telescope reached its working orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, a stable orbit in space well beyond that of the Moon. Once there and fully commissioned, the 21-foot (6.5-meter) telescope began its record-breaking work.
Webb operates at infrared wavelengths. The combination of sensitive instrumentation with its large primary mirror allows the telescope to see farther and more clearly than any previous observatory of its kind. Discoveries from existing and newly identified targets began to accumulate almost immediately. The first images were unveiled on July 12, 2022.
The ever-growing list of Webb discoveries includes direct imaging of exoplanets and the identification of key molecules in their atmospheres; tracking clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan; identifying new details in a cluster of galaxies; imaging the incredibly faint rings around Uranus; capturing the galactic merger of Arp 220; discovering sand-bearing clouds on a remote exoplanet; measuring the temperature of a rocky exoplanet; detecting the most distant active supermassive black hole to date; and observing galaxies seen in their earliest years, when the universe was just 350 million years old – about two percent of its current age.
Founded in 1951, the International Astronautical Federation is a space advocacy body with members in 75 countries, including all leading space agencies, companies, research institutions, universities, societies, associations, institutes, and museums worldwide. The Federation advances knowledge about space, supporting the development and application of space assets by promoting global cooperation.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
Rob Gutro
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Jamie Adkins Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) View the full article
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By NASA
4 Min Read Marshall Bids Farewell to Former Center Director with Retirement Ceremony
Former Center Director Jody Singer, left, hugs Acting Center Director Joseph Pelfrey after being presented with a plaque honoring her 38 years with NASA and Marshall. The plaque was made with wood from Building 4200, which Singer decided to have demolished during her tenure, and flags that flew on the last Challenger mission and Artemis I. Credits: NASA/Charles Beason By Jessica Barnett
Hundreds filled Activities Building 4316 on Sept. 21 to offer their best wishes to former NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Jody Singer as she takes on her next big adventure: retirement.
Marshall team members brought gifts, recorded messages, and lined up for a hug or handshake with Singer as part of the celebration. A select few were invited to stand on stage and speak about Singer’s many career accomplishments, as well as how deeply she would be missed.
We have SLS (Space Launch System) in part because of the hard work of Jody, and that’s pretty amazing.
Bob Cabana
NASA Associate Administrator
“All that she did led up to her being the deputy director at Marshall, and from there, an amazing five-year tenure as the director.” added Cabana.
Singer joined NASA in 1985 as an engineer and then supported the Space Shuttle program in 1986. In all, she was involved in 110 shuttle missions. She was named the first female project manager for the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project in 2002 and was holding three deputy positions simultaneously just eight years later.
Eight years after that, in 2018, she became Marshall’s first female center director, overseeing 7,000 employees, a $5 billion budget, and one of NASA’s largest field installations. Singer retired July 29.
Joseph Pelfrey, who took over as Marshall’s acting center director, said he’s learned just how heavy a load Singer carried in his few weeks in the role.
“It can’t be overstated the impact that Jody had on our center, on our agency, and especially me, personally,” Pelfrey said. “To believe in me, to believe in the people that followed you – it’s your way of paying it forward, as you always said, and it can’t be overstated how much we appreciate that.”
Singer received numerous awards during her 38-year career with NASA, and the recognition continued at her retirement ceremony. Cabana joined NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails in presenting Singer with the Distinguished Service Medal, NASA’s highest honor, along with pins from 68 International Space Station missions, plus an Alabama flag and U.S. flag that flew on the Orion spacecraft for Exploration Flight Test-1 and Artemis I.
Singer, far left, stands next to a portrait of herself after its unveiling at her retirement ceremony Sept. 21. Joining behind her, from left, are Pelfrey, Marshall Associate Director Rae Ann Meyer, and Marshall Associate Director, Technical, Larry Leopard.Credits: NASA/Charles Beason Pelfrey, along with Marshall Associate Director, Technical, Larry Leopard, who emceed the ceremony, presented Singer with a plaque honoring her time at Marshall. The plaque was made with wood from Building 4200, which Singer decided to have demolished during her tenure, and flags that flew on the last Challenger mission and Artemis I.
“Jody has inspired countless young people, especially young women, to pursue careers in STEM, and she has personally dedicated her career to mentoring the next generation of explorers and leaders,” Leopard said. “I can personally say she left Marshall better than she found it.”
‘Who we are’
When it was her turn at the microphone, Singer offered thanks to the long list of team members-turned-friends she has worked with and received support from over the years.
“It makes a big difference, having folks you can call up and rely on,” she said. “You can’t do it by yourself. It has to be a team, and I couldn’t have had better partners in this journey.”
She said despite multiple reassurances that she would know when the time was right to retire, the decision was far from easy.
Singer, center right, poses for a selfie with her former coworkers Sept. 21 during her retirement ceremony. Joining her, from left, are Pelfrey, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana.NASA/Charles Beason I’m not a quitter, and I love what we do. I love the passion for our mission, I love all the folks, and it’s really, really hard to decide when it is time.
Jody Singer
Former Marshall Space Flight Center Director
“But then I look around and I see the teams, I see the leadership we have, and when you see such talent and passion, and knowing there are people that could do it a lot better than I ever thought about doing it, that’s when I know it’s time,” said Singer.
Singer said she’s looking forward to seeing what Marshall accomplishes under the next director’s leadership, and she offered this bit of advice to team members:
“Don’t forget who we are at Marshall. Where else can you say you’re a center that launches, you land, you live in space, you help people learn, you have science, leading-edge technology and manufacturing? There is nothing wrong with being proud of the expertise that Marshall brings to the game. It just doesn’t get any better.”
Meanwhile, she added, “I’ll always be counting on you, fighting for you, and most of all, being so proud to be part of a team like this.”
Barnett, a Media Fusion employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
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Beth Ridgeway
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Last Updated Sep 28, 2023 Related Terms
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By NASA
In response to a recommendation by an independent study team for NASA to play a more prominent role in understanding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), the agency announced Thursday it is appointing a director of UAP research.View the full article
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By NASA
Jody Singer, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Director, announced Monday her retirement, effective Saturday, July 29, after more than 38 years of service. Among many firsts in her career, Singer was appointed as the first female center director at Marshall in 2018, after serving as deputy director from 2016 to 2018.View the full article
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By European Space Agency
Registration is now open for ESA’s first-ever Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum. Taking place at ESA Headquarters in Paris from 30 to 31 October 2023, investors, institutions, entrepreneurs and companies of any size from the Earth observation sector will now be able to come together and discuss the commercial potential and challenges of Earth observation, together with the technical, industrial and risk-capital support available to European companies.
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