Optical design and analysis of the James Webb Space Telescope: Optical telescope element

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large space based astronomical telescope that will operate at cryogenic temperatures, utilizing a segmented primary mirror with active control. To achieve the science goals for JWST, the design requires a large collecting aperture and stable PSF to detect distant faint sources, and a large field of view to accommodate multiple large field of view instruments for efficient surveys. This presentation will give an overview of the mission optical requirements and optical architecture. It will describe the telescope design, highlight some of the features of the baseline telescope, and discuss the nominal performance. In addition, it will provide an overview of the wavefront sensing and control process, and describe some of the special optical analysis considerations necessary in a system needing remote, on-orbit alignment.