U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS), has unveiled a permanent exhibit on the James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center located at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The exhibit includes a scale model of the telescope, graphic panels explaining the science behind the Webb mission along with a high definition multimedia presentation from the Space Telescope Science Institute - the science and operations center for the telescope.

Chairwoman Mikulski has championed full funding for the James Webb Space Telescope, which will advance scientific discovery around the world and sustain jobs here in Maryland. As CJS Chairwoman, she announced the FY 2012 CJS bill fully funds the James Webb Space Telescope to achieve a 2018 launch.

That funding has been approved by the full Appropriations committee and is currently being debated on the Senate Floor. A final vote is expected early next week.

"I believe in the science and innovation that have made America a world leader in discovery. There is no other mission planned either by NASA or any other space agency that can achieve the scientific goals of the James Webb Space Telescope," Chairwoman Mikulski said. "In Maryland, science is jobs.

Scientific innovation creates jobs and economic growth through innovative products and new businesses. The James Webb Space Telescope will keep America in the lead for science and technology and inspire students to learn science, technology, engineering and math to become the scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. This exhibit gives Marylanders the opportunity to see American scientific ingenuity up close."

Senator Mikulski was joined by Van Reiner - President and CEO of the Maryland Science Center, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, Dr. Adam Riess - recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics, Dr. John Mather - recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics and Webb telescope senior scientist, Dr. Riccardo Giacconi - recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics, Dr. John Grunsfeld - deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and a former astronaut who participated in three spaceflights to service Hubble, and Jeff Grant - Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman Space Technology.

"The James Webb Space Telescope, like the Hubble Space Telescope before it, should help rewrite chapters in our science textbooks," said Dr. Adam Riess. "My colleagues and I can't wait to begin looking at the Universe through it, more deeply than anyone has ever looked before."

"The spark that ignites the curiosity in future Nobel Prize winners may well begin right here at the Maryland Science Center. We hope this new exhibit about the James Webb Space Telescope will provide such inspiration. For 21 years the Hubble Space Telescope has altered our understanding of the universe.

Twenty years from now, the future scientists we inspire today will be using the James Webb Space Telescope to rewrite even more textbooks," said Jeff Grant, Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman's Space Systems Division.