MEET: DR. ERIC SMITH - NASA HEADQUARTERS JAMES WEBB PROGRAM SCIENTIST

Dr. Eric Smith is the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. He's the senior NASA scientist responsible for the Webb science content and is also responsible for monitoring and managing the science program for both the Webb Telescope and Hubble, ensuring their missions remain viable and true to NASA strategic objectives. Smith defines and safeguards the "Level 1" science requirements for Webb.  These delineate the essential capabilities the observatory must possess such as primary mirror size, instrument complement, and mission lifetime.

He works with the Webb Project Science Team and the Science Working Group during the observatory’s development to keep NASA Headquarters management apprised of how the developing hardware measures up against the science requirements.

Before coming to NASA Headquarters he worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center on the science team for the Space Shuttle borne Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, and on the data archiving and distribution system for Hubble.

Eric holds a B.A. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Virginia and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park.