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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Origins, Development, Operation and Lessons..
Lomita Library, 24200 Narbonne Ave, Lomita, CA, USRSVP Information: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/nq9xna9/lp/a3e51fe6-9738-449e-bb99-d955c30211da
(April 21) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Origins, Development, Operation and Lessons Learned
Speaker:
Dr. Jonathan Arenberg
Northrop Grumman Fellow and Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration,
Fellow of the International Optics and Photonics Society, SPIE, and an Associate Fellow of AIAA
Moderator:
Dr. Jeff Puschell
AIAA Region VI Deputy Director of Education,
AIAA Fellow, SPIE Fellow, National Academy of Engineering,
Northrop Grumman Corporation | Space Systems
(The speaker will present in person.)
(This event is not sponsored by the Lomita Library)
Lomita Library (Don Knabe Meeting Room)
24200 Narbonne Ave, Lomita, CA 90717
You will receive a confirmation email with a URL.
Apr 21, 2026 05:30pm PT
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Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles Section.
Tentative Agenda (All Times PDT (GMT -0700) (U.S. and Canada)):
4:30 PM: Check-in and Networking (Welcome to bring your own dinner or join group order.)
5:30 PM: Introduction and Presentation (with Q&A)
7:00 PM: Adjourn. Networking
7:30 PM: Meeting Room closes.
8:00 PM: Library closes.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: Origins, Development, Operation and Lessons Learned
The result of nearly 100 million people hours of effort over several decades NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the largest observatory operating in space and an epic engineering story. To bring the Webb mission took the efforts of three space agencies, hundreds of scientific organizations, nearly a thousand companies on three continents. We will discuss the origins of this amazing mission, which stretches back to the 1980’s, before the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb’s science missions will be discussed and connected to the mission requirements, cryogenic operation and a primary mirror larger than the fairing, amongst them. Taken in aggregate, the mission requirements called for a revolutionary approach to the design and implementation of space observatories. The key revolutionary aspects of the technology, systems architecture and engineering that Webb’s mission demanded will be introduced and explored. The central role that modeling and simulation played in the design and approach to verification will be highlighted. This talk will also show some of the stunning images and early science results from this groundbreaking observatory. We will conclude with a discussion some of the speaker’s major lessons learned from Webb’s development and implementation.
(Speaker)
Dr. Jonathan Arenberg
Northrop Grumman Fellow and Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration
Fellow of the International Optics and Photonics Society, SPIE
Associate Fellow of AIAA
Dr. Jonathan Arenberg is a Northrop Grumman Fellow and Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration. His role includes developing, planning, and conducting strategic analyses for space science missions across all science disciplines. He was responsible for directing Northrop’s studies of potential successor missions to the Webb as part of the recent astrophysics decadal review and recent Astrophysics Probe Explorer proposals. Dr. Arenberg has experience working on astronomical programs such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory, development of the starshade and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. He held several positions on Webb, structural technology test lead, system design leader, systems engineering manager and finally chief engineer. In addition to his work on astronomical systems, he has also contributed to major high-energy and tactical laser systems, laser component engineering, metrology, optical inspection and technology development projects and is a member of national and international standards committees related to lasers and electro-optics. Dr. Arenberg holds a Bachelor of Science in physics, a Master of Science and PhD in engineering, all from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the international optics and photonics society, SPIE, and an Associate Fellow of AIAA, author of over 240 conference presentations, papers and book chapters and co-author of a recent book on systems engineering for astronomy from SPIE press. He holds 15 European and U.S. patents in a wide variety of areas of technology.
(Moderator)
Dr. Jeff Puschell
AIAA Region VI Deputy Director of Education,
AIAA Fellow, SPIE Fellow, National Academy of Engineering,
Northrop Grumman Corporation | Space Systems
Dr. Jeff Puschell is Chief Engineer, EO/lR Payloads at Northrop Grumman Space Park in Redondo Beach, California. He is an internationally recognized expert in the system engineering of space-based imaging and remote sensing systems. He has >40 years of experience in developing advanced technology infrared and visible wavelength systems for a variety of operational and research applications. Dr. Puschell has authored or coauthored >160 papers on a variety of topics in astrophysics, imaging, remote sensing and optical communication. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024 for development of optical, multispectral, and hyperspectral space-based remote sensing systems for Earth observation. Dr. Puschell is an AIAA Fellow and a SPIE Fellow. He and his wife Dana live in Solvang and Hermosa Beach, California.
[AIAA Los Angeles Section], [contact@aiaa-lalv.org], [https://www.aiaa-lalv.org]1 attendee
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