Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Support
  • WSKG Passport
  • School Closings
Donate
  • Donate
  • logo
  • logo
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
  • Donate
  • More
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Support
    • WSKG Passport
    • School Closings

WSKG - Local news and arts, broadcasting NPR radio and PBS TV.

WSKG (https://wskg.org/news/new-york-firm-will-build-nasas-next-generation-space-telescope/)

  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
Listen Live - WSKG
Trusted News, Thoughtful Conversations
Listen Live - WSKG Classical
Music and More

New York Firm Will Build NASA’s Next-Generation Space Telescope

By Randy Gorbman | December 6, 2018
More
  • More on binghamton
  • Subscribe to binghamton

Rochester, NY (WXXI) – Harris Corporation has been awarded a nearly  $196 million contract to help build a space-based telescope.  The work involves the Wide Field Infrared Survey  Telescope, or  WFIRST, for short.

Much of the work is being done by the Harris operations in Rochester, and Senator Chuck Schumer says the federal contract from NASA will help support 160 local jobs. Laura Abplanalp  is Director of Civil and Commercial Imaging for Harris Space and Intelligence Systems.

She says the work by Harris involves modifying a telescope that was originally designed for a different federal program.

“Harris is taking the telescope that was built for another mission and we’re going to take it apart and we’re going to put it back together again and adjust its performance so that it meets the WFIRST requirements,” Abplanalp told WXXI News.

Abplanalp says this telescope provides a view of space which is 100 times greater than the Hubble telescope, and it will be able to measure light from a billion galaxies.

“It will be able to measure light from a billion galaxies, and 2,600 ‘exoplanets’  (planets outside of our solar system) over the course of its life. It does have a mission life of about six years, and we expect that it will likely be able to continue working after that.”

Abplanalp says the project  will also help to teach the next generation of engineers about dealing with technology like this.

Harris WFIRST team CREDIT HARRIS CORPORATION

“One of the great things about working on programs like this is just the new technologies and the things we’re going to learn, really inspire and motivate young people to join us in this journey to support these large space-based programs and also ground based programs; so certainly over the four years, we’ll bringing on new talent and mentoring them.”

Local Harris employees will be working on modifying the telescope over the next four years. The WFIRST telescope is expected to become operational sometime in the mid 2020s.

Recent Posts

  • 95-Year-Old WWII Veteran Gets Surprise Visit From An 'Old Friend': A Sherman Tank
    PA Veteran Gets Surprise Visit From An ‘Old Friend’: A Sherman Tank

    The last time Clarence Smoyer rode in a Sherman tank, he was a 21-year-old corporal in the U.S. Army. That was in 1945.

  • CBS Releases Trailer For “Twilight Zone” Revamp

    BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) -- It’s official. The legendary show of Binghmaton’s hometown hero, Rod Serling, is getting a reboot.

  • Out Of Court Settlement In The Works Between ACLU and PA’s Prison System

    HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) -- After a day in federal court, the state Corrections Department is settling a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups over a boost in legal mail security the groups say violated inmates’ First Amendment rights. The full details of the settlement won’t be out for at least two weeks.

  • Law Enforcement Describes Deadly Boeheim Crash As ‘Horrible, Sad Tragedy’

    SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) - Law enforcement officials are describing a deadly car accident involving Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim as a horrible, sad tragedy. Boeheim hit and killed a man who was fleeing a disabled vehicle on Interstate 690 in Syracuse.

  • Statewide Rallies Call For More Mental Health Housing Funds

    BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) - Statewide rallies are being held weekly demanding the Governor increased state funding for mental health housing. The 'Bring It Home Coalition' is staging rallies each Thursday in Long Island, New York City, Syracuse and here in Buffalo, targeting state lawmakers.  “We’re just not getting the kind of response that we really need from them, because these are their programs – they fund them and they should fund them adequately,” stated Toni Lasicki, executive director, Association for Community Living in Albany.

changes on  WSKG and WSQX radio

About WSKG

WSKG connects you to local and global news and the arts online, on the radio, and on TV. NPR and PBS affiliate.

Contact Us

email: WSKGcomment@wskg.org

phone: 607.729.0100

address: 601 Gates Road, Vestal, NY 13850

DONATE

Pay an underwriting invoice

  • WSKG
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Science
  • News
  • Radio
  • Schedule
  • TV
  • About
  • WSKG Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Public Reports & Policies
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Protect My Public Media
FCC PUBLIC FILES
WSKG-FM
WSQX-FM
WSQG-FM
WSQE
WSQA
WSQC-FM
WSQN
WSKG-TV
WSKA
Disabled and need assistance with the online FCC public file?
Contact Gregory Keeler
WSKG
601 Gates Road
Vestal, New York 13850
607-729-0100
gkeeler@wskg.org

Stay Connected

Like Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on InstagramSubscribe via RSS

© Copyright 2019, WSKG

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

No, thanks