Giornate della Scienza–The James Webb Space Telescope–New Horizons in Science and Technology

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The James Webb Space Telescope — New Horizons in Science and Technology is a presentation by Dr. Giuseppe Cataldo that provides an overview of the project, the scientific and technological challenges encountered during its realization, and the countless spin-offs generated all along that benefit life on Earth every day.

The JWST will replace the Hubble Space Telescope in our endeavors to observe the first galaxies formed out of the darkness of the early universe. JWST will help understand how these galaxies evolved over billions of years, how stars and planets form, and how life came to be. JWST is equipped with a 6.5-m-diameter primary mirror to collect infrared light, which will be analyzed by four scientific instruments. Its tennis-court-sized, five-layer sunshield will allow JWST to work at cryogenic temperatures by protecting it from the solar radiation impinging on it. JWST will operate a million miles away from our planet, at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point. This mission is an international effort of NASA and the European and Canadian Space Agencies and is scheduled to launch no earlier than the spring of 2019.

Giuseppe Cataldo is a space systems engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s technology development program. His expertise is in the design and optimization of space systems with application for astronomy and astrophysics. He earned his PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2015, master’s degrees in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institutes of Milan and Turin (Italy), jointly with ISAE-SUPAERO (France), in 2010, and a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Milan in 2007.

He joined NASA in 2009 fully sponsored by the European Space Agency as one of the two European students selected for the NASA Academy, NASA’s premiere student leadership program. Giuseppe has contributed to a variety of NASA’s missions and projects and has received several awards, including NASA’s 2017 Early Career Public Achievement Medal. He serves as a reviewer, panelist and member of several scientific and technical committees.