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Shaune Allen
Hopefully, some of you have come across the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. If not there are many ways to get there the most direct being https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages. There was also a program that occured at the Goddard Space Flight Center yesterday. It is on YouTube.
Tonight, Webb will be the focus of NOVA:
"Ultimate Space Telescope" premieres today (July 13) at 9 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. CDT) on PBS NOVA.
So, here is a photo from French Guiana last fall during Launch Site Preparations (That Ariane V rocket is not the real thing but a model). Hopefully, you can blow it up. You will see one cautious person wearing a mask. If you blow it up you will see him representing. Yep, we were and are in the house. As you marvel at this engineering and scientific marvel understand that the McKinley family and '79 in particular was a part of the team.
I was the Launch Site Electrical Lead so those in this photo are a part of my team. We had our own control room but we had no cameras since we were directly responsible for the Observatory and its interface to the Launcher. I am sure if things had not gone as well as it has, my name would have be plastered throughout the news but... that did not happen. The launch was almost perfect, the deployments all worked, and commissioning is now complete.
Enjoy the images and marvel, as I do, at what could produce all of this and how we just became insignificant in the universal scheme.
Share with your children, grandchildren, family, friends. Hopefully they will be inspired to do something great.
GOD Bless you all!
Shaune
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