
Article was originally published in Rochester Business Journal, link to original article here.
The world's largest and most complex space science observatory launched last month and is readying to explore every phase of cosmic history, thanks to assistance from employees at L3Harris' Space and Airborne Systems' local operation. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is a large, infrared-optimized telescope designed to study the formation of the first stars and galaxies, the evolution of galaxies, the production of elements by stars and the process of star and planet formation.
Webb successfully launched Christmas Day from French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America.
Those from L3Harris' Space and Airborne Systems in Rochester who watched had a special connection with the launch, including Tony Whitman, who is the cryogenic optical test director for the James Webb Space Telescope at L3Harris.
I was excited and relieved, he said of the launch. Whitman - who began working on the project in 2003 - said it has spanned a roughly 20-year period and involved some 100 engineers and 200 other employees from L3Harris over that time.
In addition, L3Harris worked with upwards of 20 regional companies, including purchasing custom parts from them for the project, he added.
L3Harris has a history of working on NASA projects, dating back to the firm's origins as Eastman Kodak's Co.'s Remote Sensing Systems.
For Webb, the local team orchestrated the integration and test for the Optical Telescope Element on the nearly $10 billion telescope.
The Optical Telescope Element (OTE) is the eye of the James Webb Space Telescope Observatory. It gathers the light coming from space and provides it to the science instruments. The OTE consists of the mirrors as well as structures and subsystems that support the optics.
As part of the NASA team, L3Harris integrated components made by various partners to form the Optical Telescope Element, which will collect light and provide sharp images of deep space. L3Harris also combined the components of the Integrated Science Instrument Module, which hosts four cameras and spectrographs for gathering data.
L3Harris later administered roughly 100 days of testing in a cryogenic vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center in Houston to ensure the telescope elements perform in the harsh environment found in space.
While some may have found it challenging to work on one project for some two decades, Whitman said the project involved several distinct phases.
The job changed as the project progressed, he said.
He noted he is proud the team was able to meet the unprecedented test requirements for the program and do the work on schedule in a timely manner.
Not only did the team face challenges related to the development of the largest space telescope ever made, but they also had to make sure it could withstand temperatures that registered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, he explained.
Whitman said that number is well below the lowest temperature commonly used as a benchmark in the cryptogenic industry and close to absolute zero, which is the lowest temperature possible and when atoms stop moving.
We definitely knew we had a lot to figure out and we also the space exploration field and the local operation is hiring for a range of positions, including engineers, knew we would get there, he said.
As the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb will take one month to travel 1.5 million kilometers - or 940,000 miles - to a point in space where it will be balanced between the gravity of the Earth and the sun, NASA reported. The first images from the telescope are expected this summer.
The premier mission is the scientific successor to NASA's iconic Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, built to complement and further the scientific discoveries of these and other missions.
Webb will be located much farther from Earth than Hubble and will contain a tennis court-sized sun-shade that will keep the telescope cold, which is necessary for viewing infrared light.
The telescope's technology will explore every phase of cosmic history - from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe, to everything in between. Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it, according to NASA.
The James Webb Space Telescope represents the ambition that NASA and our partners maintain to propel us forward into the future, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. The promise of Webb is not what we know we will discover; it's what we don't yet understand or can't yet fathom about our universe.
L3Harris is now focused on additional projects in the space exploration field and the local operation is hiring for a range of positions, including engineers, machinists, and technicians.
One such project is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a Hubble-sized telescope targeted for launch no later than 2027.
Whitman is the chief systems engineer, optical telescope assembly for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will investigate long-standing astronomical mysteries, such as the force behind the universe's expansion, and search for distant planets beyond our solar system.
The telescope is another tool that will help scientists with space exploration, Whitman noted.
A lot of science will be learned with this, he said.
# # #
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...
14/04/2026
Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...
14/04/2026
Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...
14/04/2026
Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026.
April 10, 2026
By
Bryan Parys
Illustration by Jack Fla...
14/04/2026
Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...
14/04/2026
How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
13/04/2026
Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...
13/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...
13/04/2026
Media Links will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), demonstrating IP transport solutions for live production including hitless protection technology, Xscen...
13/04/2026
NBC Sports has announced a programming, distribution, and sales partnership with...
13/04/2026
FloSports has promoted Chief Operating Officer Jayar Donlan to President, effective immediately. In his new role, Donlan will lead the company's commercial,...
13/04/2026
PanCam Pictures, the documentary production company founded by Paul Camarata, us...
13/04/2026
Mimir will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (North Hall, Booth N2850), demonstrating its cloud-native media production platform with new capabilities including Mimir Cu...
13/04/2026
BBright has announced that its IP Gateway now supports the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) protocol. The addition will be introduced at NAB Show 2026 ...
13/04/2026
Net Insight has been awarded a development project through the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), with co-funding f...
13/04/2026
intoPIX will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, marking the company's 20th anniversary. The company will demonstrate its JPEG XS compression portfolio and IPMX-appro...
13/04/2026
Starting from scratch, the team built an in-house content platform comprising ga...
13/04/2026
Here's a look at some of the new products and updates, along with audio-centric conferences, that attendees will find next week at the show
When the 2026 N...
13/04/2026
Avid will launch new integrated newsroom capabilities for Avid for News at NAB Show 2026 (Booth N2226, April 18-22), demonstrating how Avid Content Core connect...
13/04/2026
Synamedia has announced a new version of Quortex PowerVu, an IP-native, software...
13/04/2026
Mediaproxy has developed a suite of AI-powered tools for brand and advertisement tracking, integrated into its LogServer compliance logging and analysis platfor...
13/04/2026
Disguise will demonstrate its media servers and software at NAB Show 2026, appearing across five partner booths in Central Hall: MRMC, B&H, Planar, CarbonBlack,...
13/04/2026
OpenDrives is introducing OpenDrives Edge at NAB Show 2026, a hybrid cloud-edge performance accelerator for distributed video and rich media workflows. The prod...
13/04/2026
The show will deploy 18 cameras across two sets and the draft floor, including a...
13/04/2026
Intuitive EQ plug-in gets an upgrade
Following its official launch back in February 2026, Musik Hack's intuitive EQ plug-in has been treated to its firs...
13/04/2026
Flagship soft synth collection expanded
The latest version of UVI's flagship vintage-inspired soft synth collection has just arrived, expanding the suit...
13/04/2026
Free version of innovative string library arrives
Released in October 2025, Lux Orchestral Strings was said to be Sonuscore's most ambitious library to ...
13/04/2026
The Girls' Research Camp is part of the Technology - Future in Bavaria edu...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms submarine communications for real time underwater dom...
13/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz enables Pulsar signal simulation to support next-generation navi...
13/04/2026
L3Harris is accelerating the development of infrared payloads for Space Development Agency's Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, to help meet urgent national defense ...
13/04/2026
By leveraging cutting-edge unfilmed Gen III image intensifier technology, NOVA delivers unmatched clarity, range, and reliability in low-light environments - en...