Mark Clampin, the director of NASA's Astrophysics division, has accepted the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime and Current Achievements from Christopher Browne, John and Adrienne Mars, the director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia, in a ceremony on March 23, 2023.
The James Webb Space Telescope team at NASA has been selected to receive the 2023 Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime and Current Achievements, presented by the National Air and Space Museum of the United States, honoring outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology and their history.
The dedication and ingenuity of the James Webb Space Telescope team is an inspiration to the rest of the world, according to NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana. "These partnerships that make this mission possible are the best of humanity, and are critical to allowing us to utilize Webb to better understand our universe."
On March 23, the award was presented at the museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Chris Browne, the museum's director of John and Adrienne Mars, said the 2023 Collins Trophy recipients have helped humans understand their place on this Earth. Similarly, the James Webb Telescope has given us new insights into the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope is a NASA conceptual image lab based in the Goddard Space Flight Center.
Webb is the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built on December 25, 2021. In July 20, the Webb team officially began Webb's journey to explore the infrared universe.
"Congratulations to the James Webb Space Telescope team for pushing the limits to reveal our history through the earliest, most distant galaxies that shine in the cosmos," said Nicola Fox, NASA Headquarters' science mission director. "The stunning images and spectra are already fulfilling Webb's promise to unlock a new era of science."
Webb is able to observe some of the most primitive galaxies ever observed, peering through dusty clouds to see stars form, and providing the most detailed view of Neptune's rings in decades thanks to the exceptional talents and achievements of the team members who designed, developed, and now operate the Webb mission.
Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is prominent at the center of the James Webb Space Telescope's composite image combining near-infrared and mid-infrared light from Webb's Near-Infrared camera and mid-infrared instrument. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and the Webb ERO production team
Mark Clampin, the director of the NASA Headquarters' Astrophysics Division, spoke after receiving the 2023 Collins Trophy on March 23.
The award is presented in honor of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. It was established in 1985 and is now named "Web of Space."
Webb, a NASA-led international mission, is the world's leading space science observatory. Its mission challenged space telescope capability to discover hidden worlds around other stars, and investigate our universe's secrets and origins.
The achievements of the Webb mission have been recognized by organizations such as the Space Foundation, Science, National Space Club and Foundation, Aviation Week, Bloomberg Businessweek, Popular Science, and TIME.
