L3Harris Part of the James Webb Space Telescope Team

July 15, 2022 – Living on the Space Coast you get to see amazing things on a regular basis. Massive rocket ships blasting off (and some reusable boosters returning accompanied by sonic boom), American astronauts returning to space aboard commercial spacecraft, and now, thanks in part to the international corporation, L3Harris (headquartered locally), we are treated to some of the first images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Carina Nebula
The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, located approximately 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. Nebulae are stellar nurseries where stars form. The Carina Nebula is home to many massive stars, several times larger than the Sun. Image credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

From the L3Harris news release: “NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), released the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data Tuesday, July 12. L3Harris Technologies engineers and technicians integrated the complex system of mirrors and rigorously tested the telescope’s hardware to simulate the harsh conditions of space. As the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope, Webb’s images will demonstrate the telescope’s full power and show that it is now ready to begin its mission.

“L3Harris’ partnership with NASA spans decades beginning with miniaturized electronic tracking and pulse code technologies for early spacecraft; continuing through the Mercury, Apollo, space shuttle and International Space Station missions. The company is contributing to exciting new programs, such as building the optical telescope for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and designing and building the engineering development unit telescopes for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna in the company’s Rochester, N.Y. facilities.”

Source: L3Harris