NASA Recognizes Raytheon’s Webb Telescope Flight Operations Subsystem Development Team

NASA has awarded a Group Achievement Award to the Raytheon Technologies team that contributed to the development of the James Webb Space Telescope Flight Operations Subsystem, which started operating on Dec. 25, 2022.

The subsystem enables command and control, telemetry analysis, ground contact scheduling, observation plan management, and data retrieval for astronomers and the scientific community worldwide, Raytheon said. It also allows JWST operators to monitor the space telescope’s health and performance.

Walt Burns, who served as Raytheon’s Webb program manager from 2003 to 2022, accepted the Group Achievement Award at the 2022 NASA Honor Awards Ceremony held at Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland. 

According to Burns, the award recognizes the team’s exceptional efforts in developing the Flight Operations Subsystem. 

Sandy Brown, Raytheon’s vice president of digital and mission solutions, said the company is proud of the team for being recognized on a national level, noting that the group was able to overcome difficulties to deliver the operations center.