March 21, 2013

J D Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j d harrington@nasa gov

Brandi Dean Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 brandi k dean@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-050

NASA INVITES MEDIA INSIDE WORLD'S LARGEST VACUUM CHAMBER

HOUSTON -- The world's largest thermal-vacuum chamber will be open to news media at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Thursday, April 4

Upgrades are being made to the facility to prepare it for testing the agency's James Webb Space Telescope Scientists plan to use the Webb telescope to see further back into history than ever before

Attendees will be able to learn about the facility upgrades and the role they will have in preparing the Webb telescope Media interested in attending should email Brandi Dean at brandi k dean@nasa gov International media must apply for credentials by 5 p m , March 27 U S reporters should respond by 5 p m , April 3

Webb telescope scientists and Johnson chamber technicians will be available for interviews during the media opportunity The site is designated a clean room, so all media entering the chamber will be provided with specialized clothing

Johnson's 400,000 cubic foot vacuum chamber, Chamber A, was built in 1965 to conduct thermal-vacuum testing of the Apollo Command Module and Service Module In addition to the Apollo modules, Chamber A has been used in component tests for Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab, space shuttle, International Space Station, Department of Defense communication antennas and various other large-scale satellite systems

Since 2007, the chamber has been significantly modified to support testing of the Webb telescope the agency's successor to the Hubble Space Telescope Scheduled to launch in 2018, it will fly in deep space orbit more than a million miles from Earth To ensure it will function in the extreme environment of space, Chamber A will be equipped with instruments to measure and evaluate the shape and focus of the mirrors

As the most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and see unexplored planets around distant stars The telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency

For more information on telescope and to follow the mission, visit:

http://www jwst nasa gov/

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