{"id":8966,"date":"2023-08-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/?p=8966"},"modified":"2023-07-31T16:38:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T20:38:32","slug":"nasas-john-mather-the-james-webb-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/2023\/08\/nasas-john-mather-the-james-webb-telescope\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA&#8217;s John Mather: The James Webb Telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"8966\" class=\"elementor elementor-8966\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6d5ac527 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6d5ac527\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3261286e\" data-id=\"3261286e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3e9d2708 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3e9d2708\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Our Place in the Universe: NASA's John Mather on the James Webb Telescope<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-65f8c18d elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"65f8c18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/WnMl5uhCco0&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a5d7a5d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1a5d7a5d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">In this episode...<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fb7039d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1fb7039d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Dr. John Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory located at NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.* He is also the Senior Project Scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be the largest, most powerful and complex space telescope ever built and launched into space. It will fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe.<\/p><p>*This episode was originally published in February, 2021.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-1d94d985 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1d94d985\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-1a5d9913\" data-id=\"1a5d9913\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7950af34 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7950af34\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Be-Antiracist-Ibram-Kendi\/dp\/05255092\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Mather-chalk-board.jpg\" title=\"Mather chalk board\" alt=\"Mather chalk board\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Dr. John Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. He is also the Senior Project Scientist on the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be the largest, most powerful and complex space telescope ever built and launched into space. It will fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-4f13e74b\" data-id=\"4f13e74b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4fab3ad elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4fab3ad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Very First Light<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-412e5409 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"412e5409\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Mather was winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics with George Smoot for their work in the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission in the mid 1970s to measure the heat radiation from the Big Bang. Mather and his team measured the cosmic microwave background radiation\u2014basically very faint radio noise astronomers had theorized could only come from the most distant events at the beginning of time as we know it\u2014and their measurements confirmed the Big Bang theory to extraordinary accuracy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5432066 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5432066\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Premiere Space Observatory: The James Webb Space Telescope<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-16cefdf elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"16cefdf\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-24ef727\" data-id=\"24ef727\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a501578 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a501578\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"852\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-852x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-8119\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-852x1024.jpg 852w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-249x300.jpg 249w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-768x924.jpg 768w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-1277x1536.jpg 1277w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa-1703x2048.jpg 1703w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/dad-and-brayden-james-webb-nasa.jpg 1896w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 852px) 100vw, 852px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Visiting JWST while it was at NASA Goddard in 2014<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-d7b52c7\" data-id=\"d7b52c7\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3052ed77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3052ed77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large infrared telescope will be the premier space observatory of the next decade, and Mather has been the Senior Scientist on this project from it&#8217;s origin in 1995. The James Webb is scheduled to launch in 2021 and will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.<\/p><p>UPDATE: JWST launched successfully in December 2021 and the team released its <a href=\"https:\/\/webbtelescope.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first public images<\/a> in July 2022. They are stunning and breathtaking. Read more about why seeing these images brought me to tears&#8230;.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-7f255d16 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7f255d16\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-6a4222b4\" data-id=\"6a4222b4\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7fbd250d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"7fbd250d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Time Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-21910f2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"21910f2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>In 2007, Mather was listed among\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Time_(magazine)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine&#8217;s<\/a>\u00a0100 Most Influential People in The World. In October, 2012, he was listed again by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Time_(magazine)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Time<\/em>\u00a0magazine<\/a>\u00a0in a special issue on New Space Discoveries as one of 25 most influential people in space.<\/p><p>Dr. Mather is the author of many publications, including his book, &#8220;The Very First Light.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-23a98800\" data-id=\"23a98800\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-55ab677e elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"55ab677e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"985\" height=\"1005\" src=\"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main_image_deep_field_smacs0723-1280.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-8115\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main_image_deep_field_smacs0723-1280.jpg 985w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main_image_deep_field_smacs0723-1280-294x300.jpg 294w, https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main_image_deep_field_smacs0723-1280-768x784.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb\u2019s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail. Thousands of galaxies \u2013 including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared \u2013 have appeared in Webb\u2019s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe covers a patch of sky approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm\u2019s length by someone on the ground.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61bf21c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"61bf21c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a73f29 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"1a73f29\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"175\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/our-place-in-universe-nasas-john-mather-on-james-webb\/id1531607495?i=1000507800161\"><\/iframe>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Replay of my February 2021 conversation with Nobel laureate and top NASA scientist Dr. John Mather on the amazing surprises he hopes to see from his 25 years of work on the James Webb Space Telescope, launching this Fall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[696],"tags":[165,169,163,366,365,68],"topic":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8966"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8975,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966\/revisions\/8975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8966"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/souloflifeshow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=8966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}