James Webb Space Telescope: Final Activities before Science

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large-aperture space telescope optimized for near- and mid-infrared observations covering 0.6-28.4 microns. We report on progress over the past year, where the fully integrated JWST Observatory completed a number of major milestones to demonstrate its readiness for launch. The Observatory completed a series of pre-environmental deployments, returned to the fully stowed launch configuration, and carried out a comprehensive systems functional test. It was then exposed to a simulated launch environment through acoustic and vibration testing and has now embarked on the post-environmental test program, including a final ground deployment cycle. Following these tests, the Observatory will complete the final stowing, inspections, and preparations for shipping to the launch site at the Guiana Space Center. An Ariane 5 rocket will take JWST to space, beginning a 6-month commissioning phase to deploy, cooldown, align the telescope, and checkout the science instruments in preparation for Cycle 1 science.