Acronym in astronomy and space technology: JWST for James Webb Space Telescope

James E. Webb (1906-1992) was a NASA administrator (1961-1968) [1]. A new infrared telescope, which was originally coined the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST), is now named after him: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) [2]. The JWST is scheduled to be launched in 2014 to carry on as a successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope [3].

The JWST's ultralight, shape-adjusting mirrors will have six times the light-collecting power of those of the Hubble Space Telescope. New vistas on the earliest ages of our universe are expected to be accessible by detecting infrared radiation after the telescope and its giant heat shields will have successfully been unfurled out of the earth-to-orbit rocket. For more details see the narrative and the “IN BRIEF” box at the bottom of page 50 of the “Origami Observatory” article [3].

References and more to explore
[1] Interviews: James E. Webb Oral History.
[2] National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): The James Webb Space Telescope.
[3] Robert Irion: Origami Observatory. Sci. Am. October 2010, 302 (4), pp. 48-55. Abstract.