U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) led JWST's development in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Maryland managed telescope development, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore on the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University operates JWST, and the prime contractor was Northrop Grumman. The telescope is named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) is a space telescope designed primarily to conduct infrared astronomy . As the largest optical telescope in space, its greatly improved infrared resolution and sensitivity allows it to view objects too old, distant , or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope . This is expected to enable a broad range of investigations across the fields o...
