{"id":9830,"date":"2023-12-22T18:06:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/a-look-through-time-with-nasas-lead-photographer-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope\/"},"modified":"2023-12-22T18:06:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:06:29","slug":"a-look-through-time-with-nasas-lead-photographer-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/a-look-through-time-with-nasas-lead-photographer-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look Through Time with NASA\u2019s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Look Through Time with NASA\u2019s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope<\/h2>\n

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2 Min Read<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Look Through Time with NASA\u2019s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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This self portrait of Chris Gunn, standing in front of NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope from inside the Goddard Space Flight Center cleanroom, was captured November 10, 2016.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCredits: <\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA\/Chris Gunn<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Nearly two years ago in the early morning hours of Dec. 25, NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope successfully took flight<\/a> from the jungle-encircled ELA-3 launch complex at Europe\u2019s Spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana. Following a successful deployment<\/a> in space, and the precise alignment of the telescope\u2019s mirrors<\/a> and instruments<\/a>, Webb began science operations nearly six months after liftoff. As the two-year anniversary of the launch aboard ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency) Ariane 5 rocket approaches, Webb\u2019s lead photographer Chris Gunn has remastered a selection of his favorite images from his career, including one previously unreleased image.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The opportunity to be the visual spokesperson for a mission of this magnitude was the experience of a lifetime<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Chris<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Chris GUNN<\/p>\n

NASA\/GSFC Lead Photographer for Webb Telescope<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Since the fall of 2009, Gunn has routinely worked through holidays and weekends, and has spent much of these years on the road, ensuring that the Webb telescope\u2019s progress is visually chronicled and shared with the world. As the various parts and components of Webb began to be assembled and tested throughout the country, Gunn and his camera followed along, capturing the historic development of NASA\u2019s premier space telescope. Though Gunn\u2019s images display the complex nature of the telescope aesthetically, these images also serve as critical engineering bookmarks that the team routinely relied on to document that Webb\u2019s construction was sound before launch.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Following the launch of Webb, Gunn is now chronicling NASA\u2019s next flagship space telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All images below, credit NASA\/Chris Gunn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On Nov. 6, 2012, engineers and technicians inspected one of the first of Webb\u2019s 18 hexagonal mirrors to arrive at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Inside a clean room at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, on the afternoon of April 25, 2016, the James Webb Space Telescope primary mirrors were uncovered in preparation for installation of its scientific instruments.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Traveling alongside Webb as it grew and evolved, and to be able to add my signature to each photograph captured, was of course an honor, but also an immense challenge. With each image, I wanted to express the awe that I felt seeing Webb integrated right before my eyes, knowing that it was destined to shed new light on the mysteries of the cosmos.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"CHRIS<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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CHRIS GUNN<\/p>\n

NASA\/GSFC Lead Photographer for Webb Telescope<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope is shown with one of its two \u201cwings\u201d folded. Each wing holds three of its primary mirror segments. During this operation in the clean room at NASA Goddard, the telescope was also rotated in preparation for the folding back of the other wing. When Webb launched, both wings were stowed in this position, which enabled the mirror to fit into the launch vehicle. This image was captured July 17, 2016.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dressed in a clean room suit, NASA photographer Desiree Stover shines a light on the Space Environment Simulator\u2019s integration frame inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. This image was captured Aug. 29, 2013.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Webb\u2019s<\/figure>
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On May 19, 2016, inside a massive clean room at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Webb\u2019s Integrated Science Instrument Module was lowered into the Optical Telescope Element.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Taken on Nov. 16, 2016, inside NASA Goddard\u2019s largest clean room Webb\u2019s Optical Telescope Element and Integrated Science Instrument Module \u2013 together called \u201cOTIS\u201d \u2013 are shrouded with a \u201cclean tent\u201d as the team prepared for Webb\u2019s first vibration testing, which took place just outside the clean room. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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To capture Webb in its true beauty, I employed the use of specialized lighting rigs, often setting up lights early before the start of work. Johnson Space Center\u2019s Chamber A was an especially tough subject to shoot once Webb was inside. It required remote lights that had to be adjusted perfectly before I boarded a boom lift to make the photograph from seven stories up. It was all worth it, everyone\u2019s hard work \u2013 just look at how well our starship is performing<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Chris<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Chris Gunn <\/p>\n

NASA\/GSFC Lead Photographer for Webb Telescope<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On June 20, 2017, Webb\u2019s Optical Telescope Element and science instruments were loaded into the historic thermal vacuum testing facility known as \u201cChamber A\u201d at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On Sept. 16, 2021, Webb was ready to be shipped to the launch site in French Guiana. Before Webb could be lifted into its shipping container, engineers and technicians at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California, performed this first horizontal tilt of the fully assembled observatory.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Image<\/figure>
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This never-before-seen image shows engineers and technicians disassembling ground hardware after completing one of the final lifts of the Webb observatory, before being placed atop ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency) Ariane 5 rocket in French Guiana. This image was taken Nov. 11, 2021.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Webb\u2019s<\/figure>
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\u201cLiftoff \u2013 from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, James Webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe.\u201d Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 5 rocket launched with NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope aboard, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe\u2019s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Chris Gunn<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The James Webb Space Telescope is the world\u2019s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Downloads<\/h2>\n

Right click the images in this article to open a version in a new tab\/window that can be zoomed or saved.<\/p>\n

Media Contacts<\/h2>\n

Thaddeus Cesari<\/strong> Thaddeus.cesari@nasa.gov<\/a>, Laura\u00a0Betz<\/strong> \u2013 laura.e.betz@nasa.gov<\/a>, Rob Gutro<\/strong>\u2013 rob.gutro@nasa.gov<\/a>
NASA\u2019s \u00a0Goddard Space Flight Center<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/p>\n

Related Information<\/h2>\n

Webb Observatory <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

More Webb News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

More Webb Images<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Webb Mission Page<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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