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Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket is seen in this false color infrared exposure as it launches with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021, from the ELA-3 Launch Zone of Europe’s Spaceport at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

James Webb Space Telescope reaches its target

The first pictures of deep space are expected this summer.
James Webb Space Telescope

University of Arizona backed telescope project off to a stellar start

The James Webb Space Telescope will aim its optics at distant galaxies.

Making of the James Webb Space Telescope

In December of 2021, NASA will launch the most ambitious telescope ever made into space.
The University of Arizona ARO Submillimeter Telescope, one of eight among the Event Horizon Telescope Array, on Mount Graham near Tucson, Arizona.

Event Horizon telescope eyes new targets in deep space

UA-backed team of radio astronomers captured the image of another black hole
OSIRIS-REx on its return journey to Earth.

OSIRIS-REx helps scientists project asteroid orbits

Data shows that Bennu will eventually make a close fly-by of Earth.
The Near Earth Object Surveyor infrared telescope is moving toward its preliminary design phase, led by University of Arizona professor Amy Mainzer. NASA plans to launch the surveyor in 2026.

Arizona professor will lead NASA project to locate menacing objects near Earth

An infrared telescope will track any asteroids that one day could crash into the planet
Susan Miner in a photo illustrating an average day of virtual connections and distractions. Miner advises using your remote control in a new way - a self-help tool, being as selective with your media as you are with your food.

Susan Miner on finding acceptance and growth in times of difficult transition.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: The NPR Student Podcast Challenge continues; and "Stories That Soar!" celebrates the boundless creativity of youth during a difficult year.
Border wall fencing with concertina wire attached in Douglas, Ariz. January 2021.

Understanding walls: "The barrier that we create in our hearts must be broken to heal and grow".

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Remembering the first space shuttle launch, 40 years ago; the uncertain state of the film industry reflected at the 93rd annual Academy Awards; and the tale of a very silly man.
The <em>Arizona Illustrated</em> feature <em>Mirrors for Magellan</em> garnered a 2022 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award Nomination in the category of Technology Content.

Mirrors for Magellan

The University of Arizona is fabricating seven massive mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope. (7:31)
One of the UA-produced mirrors that will make up the Giant Magellan Telescope array.

Newest UA telescope mirror in cool down phase

Technicians are preparing to polish it for use in a mountaintop observatory
Bruce McGrew (photo from Joy Fox Mcgrew archive)

"Bend in the Wash: The Rancho Linda Vista Artist Community"

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Searching for gamma-rays with a telescope array in the Santa Rita Mountains, and film essayist Chris Dashiell on the masterpiece “La Jetée”.

Flight of the RAVEN

Drone testing in Iceland may lead to exploring inaccessible places on Mars. (7:23)
Composed of images taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1995 and 1998, this reprocessed image of the icy Jovian moon Europa shows cracks, ridges, “microchaos,” and more. We now believe that Europa, like several other moons in the solar system, is an ocean world. Due to heat caused by Jupiter’s gravitational push-and-pull, there is liquid salt water beneath the ice, water that may contain life.

"Beyond Earth's Edge: The Poetry of Spaceflight".

Also on Arizona Spotlight: "DUSTWUN", a film about life, death and trust on the U.S. / Mexico Border.
The proposed Aspera mission will chart the territory between galaxies from Earth orbit.

UA researchers receive grant to build new space telescope

The Aspera project is expected to launch in 2024.
Still image from Oct. 20 video of the OSIRIS-REx sample collection event, with rocks flying around the arm of TAGSAM after it makes contact with the surface of asteroid Bennu.

Preliminary data suggests OSIRIS-REx sample event a success

The first pictures back from the asteroid Bennu have been welcomed as good news by mission scientists.
Artist’s conception of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

OSIRIS-REx touches an asteroid

The UA-led project is a first for NASA.

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