First Glimpse

The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will incorporate leading-edge technology in construction, optics, and deployment. NGST will be composed of a large sunshield and lightweight mirror, which will be deployed in space. Both are depicted in this rendering by TRW Space and Electronic Group. Over the next two years, the teams, one led by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, Sunnyvale, CA, and the other led by TRW Space and Electronic Group in Redondo Beach, California, and including Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder, CO, will tackle some daunting engineering challenges. The new telescope will pick up where the Hubble telescope leaves off. Hubble observes objects that are still in the visible light spectrum. NGST will investigate objects that are much more distant in space and will need to be sensitive to the infrared band. The testing protocol is going to receive a very high level of attention during this upcoming phase one effort, because it is one of the substantial cost elements of a program of this nature.