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Webb Telescope Team Honored with Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy

The team behind NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope received the 2023 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy at the National Space Club’s yearly Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington on March 10.

A group of people in formal wear stand on a stage, holding a small copper-colored bust and a crystal award. There are four men and two women. The backdrop is black with sparkling stars.
Keith Parrish, Mike Menzel, John Durning and Begoña Vila all of NASA; Scott Willoughby of Northrop Grumman, and Juli Lander of NASA.
Credits: NASA / Larry Canner

The team behind NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope received the 2023 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy at the National Space Club’s yearly Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington on March 10.

This annual award honors an individual, group, or program deemed by the Club to have made the most significant contribution to space activity in the previous year.

“Webb was a collection of extremely challenging engineering problems all rolled up into one,” said Mike Menzel, NASA mission systems engineer for Webb at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “As a team, we are extremely proud and happy to accept this award, and are even more proud that our work will make significant strides in furthering our understanding of our universe. Given the excellent performance of the observatory so far I am certain that whatever is out there in our early universe, we will see it!”

The Goddard Trophy recognized the contributions of the team that designed, developed, and now operate Webb, including individuals from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland; Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore; and Ball Aerospace, Boulder, Colorado. The mission was also made possible by many international contributions from partnerships with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

A group of people in formal wear poses with a small, copper-colored bust. The two men wear suits, one black and gray, one white and cream. The woman wears a gold dress. Colorful flowers cover the foreground.
John Durning of NASA, Scott Willoughby of Northrop Grumman and Lisa A. Monaco Jacobs, National Space Club President, and MC of the event.
Credits: NASA / Larry Canner

“Our team is thrilled that our work has changed the world of astronomy, in ways we could barely imagine before launch,” said John Mather, Webb senior project scientist at NASA Goddard. “When we first focused the telescope and saw galaxies everywhere, we knew we had succeeded. When the images were beautiful beyond description, we knew we had succeeded. When we saw stars being born with their new planets, we knew we had succeeded. I am so pleased to have played my part in our international team of 20,000 people, and delighted that we are recognized by the Goddard Memorial Trophy.”

Webb, an international mission led by NASA with its partners ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), is the world’s premier space science observatory. Its design pushed the boundaries of space telescope capabilities to solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

For more information about the Webb mission and the 2023 Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-webb-telescope-awarded-robert-h-goddard-memorial-trophy

By Peter Sooy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.