WEBVTT 00:00.792 --> 00:03.586 position:10% line:85% size:80% Joan Cartan-Hansen, Host: It's taken decades and is the most 00:03.586 --> 00:05.171 position:10% line:85% size:80% expensive telescope ever built. 00:05.171 --> 00:08.633 position:10% line:85% size:80% But what exactly do scientists hope to find with the James Webb 00:08.633 --> 00:10.802 position:10% line:85% size:80% Space Telescope? 00:10.802 --> 00:15.140 position:10% line:85% size:80% [MUSIC] 00:15.140 --> 00:18.893 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: Telescopes on earth have helped us observe the 00:18.893 --> 00:19.644 position:10% line:85% size:80% stars. 00:19.644 --> 00:22.439 position:10% line:85% size:80% But the earth's atmosphere can distort or limit what we can 00:22.439 --> 00:23.189 position:10% line:85% size:80% see. 00:23.189 --> 00:25.775 position:10% line:85% size:80% So, in 1990, we launched the Hubble telescope. 00:25.775 --> 00:27.026 position:10% line:85% size:80% It's captured images deep in space. 00:27.026 --> 00:30.155 position:10% line:85% size:80% But because it's in low earth orbit, it too has some limits on 00:30.155 --> 00:32.574 position:10% line:85% size:80% what it can view. 00:32.574 --> 00:36.703 position:10% line:85% size:80% So in 1996, scientists from NASA, the European Space Agency 00:36.703 --> 00:39.789 position:10% line:85% size:80% and the Canadian Space Agency decided to build the next 00:39.789 --> 00:44.210 position:10% line:85% size:80% generation telescope, now called the James Webb Space Telescope 00:44.210 --> 00:45.211 position:10% line:85% size:80% or JWST. 00:45.211 --> 00:49.048 position:10% line:85% size:80% They wanted that telescope to capture infrared light. 00:49.048 --> 00:52.093 position:10% line:85% size:80% Maurice Te Plate is a systems engineer on the James Webb Space 00:52.093 --> 00:54.721 position:10% line:85% size:80% Telescope project. 00:54.721 --> 00:57.682 position:10% line:85% size:80% Maurice Te Plate: Space itself basically expanded, and that 00:57.682 --> 01:00.185 position:10% line:85% size:80% basically also means that the wavelength of the light got 01:00.185 --> 01:02.562 position:10% line:85% size:80% longer. 01:02.562 --> 01:07.275 position:10% line:85% size:80% And as such light, that was originally emitted as visual 01:07.275 --> 01:10.862 position:10% line:85% size:80% light, light that you and I can see with our human eyes, that 01:10.862 --> 01:13.031 position:10% line:85% size:80% light became infrared light. 01:13.031 --> 01:16.993 position:10% line:85% size:80% And in order to measure it, we cannot really use the current 01:16.993 --> 01:18.036 position:10% line:85% size:80% observatories. 01:18.036 --> 01:22.290 position:10% line:85% size:80% We need an observatory that is really optimized for this 01:22.290 --> 01:25.293 position:10% line:85% size:80% particular part of the wavelength range. 01:25.293 --> 01:27.796 position:10% line:85% size:80% And that's an infrared observatory. 01:27.796 --> 01:30.381 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: So, engineers began building the telescope, 01:30.381 --> 01:33.051 position:10% line:85% size:80% designing step by step while solving a whole bunch of 01:33.051 --> 01:34.052 position:10% line:85% size:80% problems. 01:34.052 --> 01:36.846 position:10% line:85% size:80% First, the light waves coming from the farthest reaches of the 01:36.846 --> 01:38.556 position:10% line:85% size:80% universe would be very dim. 01:38.556 --> 01:41.726 position:10% line:85% size:80% In order to catch that very dim light, the telescope would need 01:41.726 --> 01:43.102 position:10% line:85% size:80% a very big mirror. 01:43.102 --> 01:46.773 position:10% line:85% size:80% The mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope is made up of 18 01:46.773 --> 01:49.567 position:10% line:85% size:80% panels and is more than 21 feet across. 01:49.567 --> 01:52.529 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: And in order to make this telescope work, we need to 01:52.529 --> 01:55.323 position:10% line:85% size:80% cool it down to really cool temperatures, because if we 01:55.323 --> 01:58.576 position:10% line:85% size:80% wouldn't do that, the telescope would only see it, it would 01:58.576 --> 02:00.370 position:10% line:85% size:80% basically see its own glow. 02:00.370 --> 02:03.081 position:10% line:85% size:80% It would see itself glowing and we don't want that. 02:03.081 --> 02:05.917 position:10% line:85% size:80% So therefore we cool it down, you know, we go to like really 02:05.917 --> 02:08.962 position:10% line:85% size:80% low temperatures and then only then we can measure those super 02:08.962 --> 02:11.047 position:10% line:85% size:80% weak infrared signals. 02:11.047 --> 02:12.423 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: How cold? 02:12.423 --> 02:15.426 position:10% line:85% size:80% How about minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit, colder than the 02:15.426 --> 02:18.012 position:10% line:85% size:80% surface of Pluto. 02:18.012 --> 02:21.224 position:10% line:85% size:80% To keep the cold side of the telescope really cold, the 02:21.224 --> 02:23.309 position:10% line:85% size:80% telescope uses a giant heat shield. 02:23.309 --> 02:27.355 position:10% line:85% size:80% The shield is about the size of a giant tennis court and keeps 02:27.355 --> 02:30.650 position:10% line:85% size:80% the sun and heat from the earth and other space objects away 02:30.650 --> 02:32.068 position:10% line:85% size:80% from the telescope. 02:32.068 --> 02:35.405 position:10% line:85% size:80% This heat shield needed to be light, durable and, like all 02:35.405 --> 02:38.616 position:10% line:85% size:80% other parts of the telescope had to do one other thing. 02:38.616 --> 02:41.744 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: So it's so big that it doesn't fit in even the world's 02:41.744 --> 02:44.706 position:10% line:85% size:80% largest rockets, so it needs to be folded up. 02:44.706 --> 02:48.710 position:10% line:85% size:80% And then in space, it will like unfold itself, you know, like a 02:48.710 --> 02:50.211 position:10% line:85% size:80% gigantic piece of origami. 02:50.211 --> 02:53.756 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: The James Webb Space Telescope was launched on 02:53.756 --> 02:57.594 position:10% line:85% size:80% December 25th, 2021 and spent its first 30 days unfolding and 02:57.594 --> 02:59.345 position:10% line:85% size:80% traveling to where it will orbit the earth. 02:59.345 --> 03:03.016 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: We're sending it to this place called a second 03:03.016 --> 03:06.102 position:10% line:85% size:80% Lagrange point, which is about a million miles away from the 03:06.102 --> 03:10.023 position:10% line:85% size:80% earth, which is similar to four times the distance from the 03:10.023 --> 03:11.190 position:10% line:85% size:80% earth to the moon. 03:11.190 --> 03:13.818 position:10% line:85% size:80% So it's really, really, really far away. 03:13.818 --> 03:16.571 position:10% line:85% size:80% And we do that mainly for thermal reasons. 03:16.571 --> 03:19.824 position:10% line:85% size:80% We need to be far away from the earth, far away from the sun. 03:19.824 --> 03:23.202 position:10% line:85% size:80% And that's what we do by sending it to the second Lagrange point. 03:23.202 --> 03:25.622 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: Once in place and after a 03:25.622 --> 03:27.123 position:10% line:85% size:80% several-month-testing-period. 03:27.123 --> 03:29.792 position:10% line:85% size:80% The James Webb Space Telescope should start sending back 03:29.792 --> 03:30.835 position:10% line:85% size:80% images. 03:30.835 --> 03:33.838 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: We wanna look at the really early universe, so that's 03:33.838 --> 03:34.339 position:10% line:85% size:80% gonna be super exciting. 03:34.339 --> 03:37.592 position:10% line:85% size:80% You know, this is like uncharted terrain. 03:37.592 --> 03:38.801 position:10% line:85% size:80% We've never done that. 03:38.801 --> 03:41.429 position:10% line:85% size:80% It's gonna be the first time that we'll see that. 03:41.429 --> 03:43.890 position:10% line:85% size:80% So I'm super interested in those first results. 03:43.890 --> 03:46.893 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: Te Plate explains that because light travels at a 03:46.893 --> 03:49.854 position:10% line:85% size:80% finite speed, the speed of light, looking at images so far 03:49.854 --> 03:52.649 position:10% line:85% size:80% away is kind of like looking back in time. 03:52.649 --> 03:55.777 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: So when I'm looking at sun, it's basically I'm looking 03:55.777 --> 03:58.821 position:10% line:85% size:80% at the sun, how it was like eight minutes ago because the 03:58.821 --> 04:01.366 position:10% line:85% size:80% light takes some time to get to my eyes. 04:01.366 --> 04:04.327 position:10% line:85% size:80% So when I'm looking outside and I'm looking at stars, that light 04:04.327 --> 04:07.288 position:10% line:85% size:80% has been traveling for millions sometimes billions of years. 04:07.288 --> 04:11.584 position:10% line:85% size:80% So you can compare the universe to a photo book, uh, that you 04:11.584 --> 04:14.420 position:10% line:85% size:80% and I have, you know, it has like pictures from when, uh, we 04:14.420 --> 04:17.924 position:10% line:85% size:80% were like really young babies, toddlers, then young children 04:17.924 --> 04:20.259 position:10% line:85% size:80% and then teenagers and, you know, eventually old men or 04:20.259 --> 04:21.302 position:10% line:85% size:80% women. 04:21.302 --> 04:25.139 position:10% line:85% size:80% With Hubble, we've looked really, really deep into the 04:25.139 --> 04:26.057 position:10% line:85% size:80% universe. 04:26.057 --> 04:29.852 position:10% line:85% size:80% So we've looked very now, far back in time, really billions 04:29.852 --> 04:31.187 position:10% line:85% size:80% and billions of years. 04:31.187 --> 04:33.398 position:10% line:85% size:80% But if we go back to that comparison of the photo book, we 04:33.398 --> 04:37.819 position:10% line:85% size:80% haven't quite seen those baby pictures, those toddler 04:37.819 --> 04:40.822 position:10% line:85% size:80% pictures, we've seen all the pictures, you know, when the 04:40.822 --> 04:44.200 position:10% line:85% size:80% universe was a little older, but we've never seen the universe at 04:44.200 --> 04:45.785 position:10% line:85% size:80% a very young stage. 04:45.785 --> 04:48.246 position:10% line:85% size:80% And that's exactly what Webb's gonna do. 04:48.246 --> 04:51.040 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: Unlike the Hubble telescope, if anything goes 04:51.040 --> 04:53.710 position:10% line:85% size:80% wrong, the James Webb Space Telescope is so far out in space 04:53.710 --> 04:55.461 position:10% line:85% size:80% that we can't repair it. 04:55.461 --> 04:58.506 position:10% line:85% size:80% Engineers thought of that and put in duplicate systems that 04:58.506 --> 05:01.676 position:10% line:85% size:80% might be able to take over and fix any problems. 05:01.676 --> 05:04.721 position:10% line:85% size:80% The James Webb Space Telescope has about 10 years' worth of 05:04.721 --> 05:05.430 position:10% line:85% size:80% fuel to keep it going. 05:05.430 --> 05:08.850 position:10% line:85% size:80% After that it will go dark.unless we can invent a way 05:08.850 --> 05:12.854 position:10% line:85% size:80% to refuel it.something engineers are already working on. 05:12.854 --> 05:16.315 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate says this telescope is a new milestone in the history 05:16.315 --> 05:18.526 position:10% line:85% size:80% of space exploration. 05:18.526 --> 05:21.571 position:10% line:85% size:80% Te Plate: And I'm also super excited about what we're gonna 05:21.571 --> 05:23.656 position:10% line:85% size:80% do, uh, regarding these exo-planets, you know, maybe 05:23.656 --> 05:28.244 position:10% line:85% size:80% we'll find planets that somehow are like similar to earth. 05:28.244 --> 05:31.205 position:10% line:85% size:80% You know, maybe we find atmospheres that have like a 05:31.205 --> 05:33.750 position:10% line:85% size:80% similar molecular composition, who knows? 05:33.750 --> 05:36.419 position:10% line:85% size:80% But what I think is most exciting is that we we'll 05:36.419 --> 05:40.965 position:10% line:85% size:80% actually, uh, get answers to questions that we currently 05:40.965 --> 05:42.759 position:10% line:85% size:80% don't even have. 05:42.759 --> 05:45.136 position:10% line:85% size:80% So the surprises, that is what I mean. 05:45.136 --> 05:48.014 position:10% line:85% size:80% I mean like the Hubble, you know, the big discoveries were 05:48.014 --> 05:51.517 position:10% line:85% size:80% like really big surprises, you know, the stuff that nobody ever 05:51.517 --> 05:52.602 position:10% line:85% size:80% thought of. 05:52.602 --> 05:54.562 position:10% line:85% size:80% And I hope that James Webb will be able to do something really 05:54.562 --> 05:55.354 position:10% line:85% size:80% similar. 05:55.354 --> 05:58.816 position:10% line:85% size:80% Cartan-Hansen: If you want to learn more about astronomy, 05:58.816 --> 06:00.943 position:10% line:85% size:80% check out the science trek website. 06:00.943 --> 06:03.613 position:10% line:85% size:80% You'll find it at science trek dot org. 06:03.613 --> 06:24.092 position:10% line:85% size:80% [MUSIC] 06:24.092 --> 06:26.636 position:10% line:85% size:80% ANNOUNCER: Presentation of Science Trek on Idaho Public 06:26.636 --> 06:29.597 position:10% line:85% size:80% Television is made possible through the generous support of 06:29.597 --> 06:32.391 position:10% line:85% size:80% the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, committed to 06:32.391 --> 06:36.145 position:10% line:85% size:80% fulfilling the Moore and Bettis family legacy of building the 06:36.145 --> 06:37.855 position:10% line:85% size:80% great state of Idaho. 06:37.855 --> 06:40.483 position:10% line:85% size:80% By the Idaho National Laboratory, mentoring talent and 06:40.483 --> 06:45.905 position:10% line:85% size:80% finding solutions for energy and security challenges, by The 06:45.905 --> 06:48.658 position:10% line:85% size:80% Friends of Idaho Public Television and by the 06:48.658 --> 06:51.702 position:10% line:85% size:80% Corporation for Public Broadcasting.