PSI: JWST to Offer Better View of NEOs

[bystander]

James Webb Space Telescope to Offer Better View of Near Earth Objects
Planetary Science Institute | 2016 Feb 08

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will allow scientists to better study and understand Near Earth Objects (NEOs), a new paper by a Planetary Science Institute researcher said.

NEOs, asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to the Earth’s orbit, are tracked to determine potentially destructive collisions with Earth. NEOs are also seen as a possible source of water and other materials needed to allow human-tended space missions to distant worlds.

From its orbital position, JWST could have access to observe nearly three-fourths of NEOs, and nearly all asteroids and comets beyond Mars could be observed. ...

Observing Near-Earth Objects with the James Webb Space Telescope - Cristina A. Thomas et al

• Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 128(959):018002 (2016 Jan) DOI: 10.1088/1538-3873/128/959/018002
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1510.05637 > 19 Oct 2015

[bystander]

James Webb Space Telescope Primary Mirror Fully Assembled
NASA | JWST | 2016 Feb 04

The 18th and final primary mirror segment is installed on what will be the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever launched. The final mirror installation Wednesday at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland marks an important milestone in the assembly of the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope. ...