Senate and NASA officials participated at the ceremony

Oct 27, 2011 18:01 GMT  ·  By

On Wednesday, October 26, a permanent exhibit dedicated to the NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was inaugurated at the Maryland Science Center, in Baltimore, Maryland. The ceremony was attended by US Senator Barbara Mikulski (D.-Md) and NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.

Most of the exhibits to be displayed at the Center were donations from the Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman Corporation. The company is one of the main NASA contractors on building the telescope.

The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a 1/20th scale model of the actual JWST, which is the largest and most complex spacecraft ever built. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore will provide multimedia shows about the observatory, to be displayed on large wall panels.

“There is no other mission planned either by NASA or any other space agency that can achieve the scientific goals of the James Webb Space Telescope,” commented Sen. Mikulski, who is the Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee.