Skip to main content

Watch Webb Space Telescope team share thoughts on mission

Following its Christmas Day launch, the James Webb Space Telescope is now more than 750,000 miles from Earth and about 150,000 miles from its destination orbit, which it’s scheduled to reach toward the end of this month.

When the highly advanced observatory fires up for the first time this summer to begin its exploration of deep space, potentially grand discoveries await that could lead to a new understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Recommended Videos

The Webb team

With Webb’s crucial sunshield and mirror deployments now complete, NASA has released a short video (below) featuring some of the Webb team members talking about their experiences of working on the mission.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The video was recorded before Webb lifted off, with several of the contributors speaking from the launch site in French Guiana. The footage also shows the team preparing and testing the telescope prior to sending it to space.

Before the exciting @NASAWebb launch, we caught up with some of the Webb team to share their experiences working on NASA’s newest space telescope both throughout the U.S. and all the way to launch in tropical Kourou, French Guiana! pic.twitter.com/5aemxQ6UaZ

— Thomas Zurbuchen (@Dr_ThomasZ) January 12, 2022

An astonishing 10,000 people are estimated to have worked on the James Webb Space Telescope mission over the years, with experts from NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency all contributing to the ambitious project.

In the video, several of the team members reveal how they’ve been working on the $10 billion mission for more than a decade, with others noting the numerous delays that beset the effort.

“It’s mostly a very surreal experience being on the project for as long as it’s been, and going through a lot of ups and downs and delays,” said NASA contamination control engineer Colette Lepage, adding: “It’s just so amazing to be here now the day before launch, it almost doesn’t seem real.”

Another NASA engineer, Alan Abeel, commented: “This project has been a long time coming and it’s been a wonderful collaboration between several international organizations sharing a common mission.” Abeel described the mission as a “demonstration of what humanity can do when we come together with a common purpose for the betterment of all humankind.”

In the team’s own words, the Webb mission will endeavor to “observe the universe’s first galaxies, reveal the birth of stars and planets, and look for exoplanets with the potential for life.”

For a detailed look at the mission, check out Digital Trends’ article telling you all you need to know.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to watch Firefly launch its Blue Ghost mission to the moon on Tuesday night
Firefly Aerospace

This week will feature a historic event as Firefly Aerospace launches its first mission to the moon. The Blue Ghost mission aims to put a lander on the moon carrying NASA science experiments, as part of NASA's efforts to get private companies involved in lunar exploration. If the landing succeeds, it will be just the second soft lunar landing by a private company, following the Intuitive Machines Odyssey lander last year.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost mission will launch late at night on Tuesday, January 14, or Wednesday, January 15. Using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Blue Ghost will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will be liveistreamed by NASA, and you can watch it either on YouTube or by using the video embedded below:

Read more
How to watch SpaceX’s seventh Starship launch on Thursday
The Super Heavy booster's Raptor engines powering the Starship's launch on November 19, 2024.

UPDATE: SpaceX has delayed Wednesday's launch attempt. The article below has been updated to include details of the new schedule.

SpaceX is making final preparations for the seventh launch of the Starship, the most powerful rocket ever to fly.

Read more
Watch India attempt a rare space feat for the first time tonight
india docking satellites screenshot 2025 01 08 155546

With its growing space program, India will attempt a new feat tonight: docking two satellites together in orbit for the first time. This kind of maneuver requires extremely precise movements and planning, and in the long term, will help India's ambition to send increasingly sophisticated missions to the moon. The Indian space agency, the ISRO, will livestream the event tonight so you can watch at home.

Coverage begins at 9:15 p.m. ET tonight, Wednesday, January 8, and you can watch on YouTube or using the video embedded below:

Read more