Ball Aerospace receives award for work on Webb Telescope

BOULDER — Ball Aerospace has been awarded an Aviation Week Program Excellence Award for its work on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope cryogenic electronics system.

The awards honor global aerospace and defense programs and projects, their leaders and their teams for going beyond meeting requirements to exemplify the best in value creation, leadership, adapting to the complexity and executing with excellence. Ball Aerospace is the principal subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for the optical technology and optical system design, including the cryogenic electronics system, according to an announcement from Ball.

Allison Barto, Ball’s Webb Telescope program manager, received the award on behalf of the company. Barto leads the team responsible for both delivery of the optics and electronics for the 22-foot-wide telescope, as well the overall optical design, verification, and on-orbit optical phasing and commissioning of the observatory.

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The Ball team designed an array of electronics to operate at frigid temperatures without releasing any heat that could interfere with the telescope’s sensitive optics, said Jim Oschmann, vice president and general manager of civil space at Ball Aerospace.

The Webb Telescope is the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will provide images of the first galaxies formed and study planets around distant stars. It is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.