The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on December 25th, 2021. This telescope is the largest optical telescope in space giving it the ability to view object that are too early and distant for the Hubble Space Telescope to observe. Its first images have recently been released and have proven the power of the JWST.
Have you ever wondered who works behind the scenes with this one-of-a-kind telescope? Meet Dr. Jane Rigby, project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope.
While Dr. Rigby is one of many working with the James Webb Space Telescope, her work as operations project scientist is to make sure that the telescope is useful for scientific discovery. She determines how the telescope will be used to make observations, makes sure the data of these observations get back to Earth and eliminates any instrumental signatures.
Before her time at NASA, Dr. Rigby received her undergraduate degrees from The Pennsylvania State University, earning a double major in Astronomy and Physics in 2010. She continued her higher education at The University of Arizona receiving her M.S. in Astronomy in 2003 and her Ph.D in Astronomy in 2006. She then went on to be a Spitzer and Carnegie Fellow in California. She now works at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center where she does her work with the James Webb Space Telescope.
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meet-the-woman-who-akes-the-james-webb-space-telescope-work/
-https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/meetTheTeam/people/rigby.html
-https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Jane.Rigby/jrigby_cv.pdf
-https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/index.html
-https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Jane.Rigby/jrigby_cv.pdf
-https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/index.html
Dr. Rigby has an impressive number of accomplishments and her work is clearly instrumental to the JWST's functionality. Great article!
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