NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team has been selected to receive the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for their valuable and ongoing achievements. This annual award from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum honors outstanding achievements in aeronautical science and technology and their history.

“The dedication and creativity of the James Webb Space Telescope team is an inspiration to the world,” said NASA Vice President Bob Cabana. “The partnerships that make this mission possible represent the best of humanity and are critical to our ability to use Webb to better understand our universe.”

The award was presented at a ceremony on March 23 at the Stephen F. Udvar-Gazy Museum Center in Chantilly, Virginia.

“The 2023 Collins Prize winners have helped people understand their place on this Earth,” said museum director Chris Brown, John and Adrienne Mars. “The James Webb telescope also gave us a new perspective on the universe.”

James Webb Space Telescope

Launched on December 25, 2021, Webb is the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built. In July 2022, Webb’s team officially launched the Webb mission to explore the infrared universe.

“Congratulations to the James Webb Space Telescope team for pushing the boundaries to reveal our history through the oldest, most distant galaxies that shine in space,” said Nicola Fox, deputy director of NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate. “The stunning images and spectra are already fulfilling Webb’s promise to usher in a new era in science.”

With optics that perform nearly twice as well as required for the mission, Webb is exploring some of the oldest galaxies ever observed, peering through dust clouds to see star formation, and providing ever-more detailed images of planetary atmospheres outside of our sun. system. before. Webb also made new images of the planets in our solar system, including the clearest image of Neptune’s rings in decades. The Collins Award honors the outstanding achievements and significant contributions of the team members who designed, developed and currently execute the Webb mission.

“The James Webb Space Telescope allows us to study when the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe. This incredible achievement has been made possible over many years by the dedication of the thousands of people on the team who pushed the boundaries of technology to create this impressive space telescope,” said Mark Clampin, director of the science mission’s astrophysics division. Headquarters at NASA Headquarters Klempin spoke on behalf of the Webb team on March 23 after accepting the 2023 Collins Cup.

Winners will receive a prize featuring a miniature version of the Cosmic Web sculpture by John Safer of Washington, DC. The award was created in 1985 and renamed in 2020 in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins.

An international mission led by NASA in conjunction with its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), Webb is the world’s leading space science observatory. His design pushed the boundaries of what a space telescope could do to unravel the mysteries of our solar system, look beyond distant worlds around other stars, and explore the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.