The exhibit is currently housed in Baltimore, Maryland

Oct 27, 2011 07:00 GMT  ·  By

A group of officials from NASA, the US Senate and a number of universities and museums can be seen in this October 26 image posing in front of a full-scale model of the NASA James Webb Space Telescope. The model is currently exhibited at the Maryland Science Center, in Baltimore.

Former NASA astronaut and Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI, in Baltimore, Dr. John Grunsfeld, is the first from the left, on the back row. Next to him is the VP and General Manager of the Northrop Grumman Space Systems Division, Jeffrey Grant.

Also in the back row are the President and CEO of the Maryland Science Center, Van Reiner, and one of the three recipients of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Adam Reiss. The latter holds an appointment as a professor of astronomy and physics at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver (left) and US Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) can be seen in the front row. Mikulski is the Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee that funds NASA. She is known to be a staunch supporter of the massive telescope.