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-[narrator] Tension,
-[counting down in French]
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and then triumph...
- [counting down in French]
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as NASA launches
the James Webb Space Telescope.
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Deux.
[speaking French]
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This may be the telescope that
actually observes the very
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earliest days of our universe
that we've never seen before.
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[narrator] The James Webb
will explore even further back
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in time than
the Hubble Space Telescope
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to witness the birth of
the first stars and galaxies,
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and solve the mystery of how
the first black holes formed.
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The James Webb Space Telescope
could even discover a second Earth.
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For the first time,
we'll be able to point at
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a star in the sky and say,
"That planet may even have life."
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[narrator] It has taken
over 20 years,
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almost 10 billion dollars,
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and thousands of scientists
and engineers from 14 countries
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to create the most advanced
telescope ever built.
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[Krystal Puga] There's been
numerous sleepless nights.
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We have one shot to make
this right. It's gotta work.
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It's gotta work.
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[narrator] This is the story
of a telescope
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that will change the way
we view our universe forever.
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[narrator] The James Webb Space
Telescope is in South America,
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at the Kourou Space Center
in French Guiana.
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It will journey into space
on board this,
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an Ariane 5 rocket.
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December 25th --
The rocket contains
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415 tons of fuel,
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and almost 10 billion dollars
of space telescope
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is mounted on top.
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[Robinson] The global impact
that this mission is gonna have,
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it's hard to put dollars on it.
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So cargo's pretty precious.
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[narrator] In mission control,
the final countdown has started.
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If this team fails to
identify any problems now,
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in just a few moments,
NASA's most precious
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space craft would face disaster.
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The James Webb Telescope
is the future of astronomy.
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NASA built it to fulfill a dream
that began over 25 years ago.
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[narrator] Over Christmas
in 1995,
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the Hubble Space Telescope
took this extraordinary photo.
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It's known as
the Hubble Deep Field.
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The whole idea was stare at
one part of the sky for a long time
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and let that light come
in over and over these days.
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And so in this tiny little
speck on the sky,
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barely visible,
instead of nothing
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they found thousands, not thousands
of stars but thousands of galaxies.
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Each galaxy with hundreds
of billions of stars.
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This was an image that just
blew away all of us astronomers.
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This resulted in the deepest image
ever up to that time of our universe.
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This was astounding.
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[narrator] There are about
3,000 galaxies in the image.
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Most of them had never
been seen before.
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Some are near but some
are incredibly far away.
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Even though light is going
extremely fast,
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186,000 miles per second,
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it takes time for light
to actually travel to us.
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[narrator] The farther we look
out into space,
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the deeper we look back in time.
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We see the Moon as it was
one second ago,
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the Sun as it was
eight minutes ago.
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Light from our nearest star,
Proxima Centauri,
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takes four years to reach us.
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We see the nearest large
galaxy like our own,
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Andromeda, as it was two
and half million years ago.
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As our telescopes gaze deeper,
we look further back
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to a time around 13 billion years
ago when galaxies were infants.
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This is just a few hundred million
years after the Big Bang itself.
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But that's where our
observations with Hubble stop.
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What lies beyond
remains a mystery.
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It's frustrating.
These objects are just out
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of the range of
the Hubble Space Telescope.
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So even though we may be only going back,
say, you know, half a billion years more,
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that's when that first
generation of stars turned on.
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[narrator] If astronomers
could beyond Hubble and lift
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the veil on this earliest time
of the universe,
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they could uncover important
new clues about how
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the universe and everything
in it was born.
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At the Space Telescope Science
Institute in Baltimore,
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scientists were already working
up ideas for Hubble's successor.
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It was called the Next
Generation Space Telescope.
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Together with NASA, they began
work turning their initial ideas
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into the telescope that would
eventually become the James Webb.
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We needed to make a telescope that
was as sensitive as it could possibly be.
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So, number one,
it has to be big.
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[narrator] Astronomers refer to a telescope
as big if it has a big main mirror.
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The bigger the mirror, the fainter
the object the telescope can see.
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The larger the primary mirror,
the more photons,
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the more light that you collect.
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And when you're trying to look
at things that are really dim,
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you need a really big telescope
to collect more photons.
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[narrator] NASA's largest
mirror currently in space
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is on the
Hubble Space Telescope,
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a solid piece of glass over
7 feet in diameter.
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The final design for
the James Webb's mirror
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is over six times
the area of Hubble's
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and nearly three times wider,
over 21 feet across.
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But the cargo hold on
the biggest rocket available,
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Ariane 5,
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is just 15 feet wide.
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So how can NASA get this
monster mirror into space?
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[narrator] The solution was
inspired by what was then
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the largest telescope on earth.
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The Keck was spectacularly
successful. The mirror's beautiful.
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We started with
the Keck Telescopes in mind.
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Uh, they had been developed with segments
about the size we were thinking of.
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[narrator] The Keck Telescope
on Mauna Kea, Hawaii,
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has a mirror
that's 32 feet across.
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Instead of a single piece of glass,
it's made of 36 hexagonal glass pieces.
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The concept isn't so hard
to come up with.
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The details of how
you really do it, that's hard.
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Because after you've gotten
separate pieces,
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well what if they don't... The
pieces don't match at the edges?
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[narrator] The technology
the Keck designers developed
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to make lots of small mirrors behave like
one giant mirror is called active optics.
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It also offers a solution
for the engineers
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trying to fit the James Webb's
mirror into the Ariane 5.
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What we had to do was learn how to make
motors that would adjust all these mirrors
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into the right place, the right
tilt and even the right curvature.
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There are actuators on the back and
there are these very precise sensors
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that will measure fractions
of a wavelength of light
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so that we can keep
the mirrors totally aligned.
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[narrator] Instead of making a solid
glass mirror for the James Webb Telescope,
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the engineers decide to use
18 hexagonal segments
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that can be
adjusted individually.
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Together they form
the primary mirror.
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Motorized wings fold
the mirror's sides
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so it fits
into the Ariane rocket.
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[John Mather] We knew that a
telescope made out of segments
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in the mirror would be required
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so its basic points were really
known right at the very beginning.
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Exactly what was going to be
inside, that had to be worked out.
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[narrator] 2004, work begins
on the primary mirror.
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Engineers manufacture each of the 18 mirror
segments from blanks two inches thick.
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They make the mirrors
from a light weight,
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but strong metal
called beryllium
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that maintains its shape
even in the cold of deep space.
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Machines cut out
a honeycomb structure
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to support the mirror's
reflecting surface.
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[Scott Willoughby] The rocket can
only push so much mass off of Earth.
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Each mirror started as a,
you know, a blank
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and we machine away
95% of the metal.
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[narrator] Each mirror
measures over four feet across,
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but weighs just 46 pounds.
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With mirror construction underway, the
engineers turn to a far greater challenges.
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The telescope must capture light from
distant galaxies that is no longer visible.
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It will need to be
sensitive enough to detect
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the faint heat of a bumblebee
as far away as the Moon.
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[narrator] For 28 years,
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the Hubble Space Telescope has
produced many dazzling images,
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but none have revealed more about
our universe than one produced in 1995.
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The Hubble Deep Field.
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[Michelle Thaller] We saw
objects that were ten,
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eleven billion light years away.
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We were looking across time
to see what galaxies looked like
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only a few billions of years
after the start of the universe.
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[narrator] Since then,
by pushing Hubble
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and other telescopes
to their absolute limit,
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astronomers have seen
even further back into the past.
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We've been able to see across
almost 13 billion years of cosmic time.
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Which is pretty good. The
universe is only 13.7 billion years old.
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[narrator] The oldest object
we've seen so far is this.
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Galaxy GN-z11.
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[Illingworth] We were looking
at one of these fields
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and we realized that we had
some very unusual galaxies.
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This is just a tiny little dot of
light at the limit of our instruments,
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and we had four of those.
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And we actually found that
one of these
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was four hundred million years
after the Big Bang.
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And so that means we're looking
back in time 13.4 billion years.
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13,000, 400 million years
of time to see this object.
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[narrator] But this
tantalizing glimpse is the best
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that Hubble can do.
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In fact, we can't see any visible
light from this far back in time.
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It turns out that
light itself changes
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because the universe it's
traveling through is also changing.
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As light is traveling through
the space between the galaxies,
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that space is expanding.
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And it turns out that the
wavelength of light gets stretched out
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by the exact same amount
space expanded
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while the light
was traveling through it.
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[Thaller] So starlight that
could have begun as visible light
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traveling from billions of years
across the expansion of the universe,
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it's now dropped down
into infrared.
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[narrator] To see the first
stars and galaxies,
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we need a powerful new telescope
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that can detect
that infrared light.
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And detecting infrared light
isn't that hard
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on Earth at least.
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When we look at objects
in the infrared,
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we're looking at what we call
thermal radiation.
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[Thaller] I am producing my own
light simply because I am warm.
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So this is where you can
actually see things in the dark.
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And now an entirely different
universe lights up
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because by warm, I mean basically
anything with any temperature.
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Things that are
incredibly cold to humans,
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things that are hundreds
of degrees below zero.
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You can actually see the glow.
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[narrator] But any heat
from the James Webb telescope
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will also give off
infrared light.
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And this could drown out the tiny
signals coming from distant galaxies.
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We needed to make a telescope that
was as sensitive as it could possibly be.
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It has to have
the best camera chips.
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So we pushed and pushed to get
better nad better ones.
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And better means
not only more pixels,
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like you would have in your
pocket camera,
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but also, essentially perfect.
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So it is so good that overall if you
were a square centimeter insect,
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one bumblebee hovering at the
distance of the Moon away from the Earth,
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which is about, what, 400,000km,
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then we would be able to
see you in a time exposure.
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[Meyers] To allow
these extraordinarily
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00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,009
sensitive camera chips
to do their job,
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00:14:05,044 --> 00:14:11,883
the James Webb Telescope will have
to be cooled to -370 degrees Fahrenheit.
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00:14:11,917 --> 00:14:16,688
But that means a big threat to
the mission is the power of the Sun.
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It's energy could heat
the spacecraft up
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and blind the sensitive
infrared detectors.
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The breakthrough was realizing that space
itself could be used to cool the telescope.
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If you keep it from looking
at hot things in space,
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and you look only
at the empty space.
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Structures radiate their heat into this
depth of outer space and they cool down.
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[Meyers] The temperature of
space in our part of the solar system
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is -447 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Only 12 degrees
above absolute zero,
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the lowest possible temperature.
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But the side of the
telescope exposed to the Sun
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will heat up
to 230 degrees Fahrenheit.
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It will be bombarded
with infrared radiation,
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drowning out the faint infrared
light from the distance stars
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00:15:12,978 --> 00:15:15,146
the telescope
is trying to detect.
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But if the engineers design
a large reflector,
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and angle the telescope so
the shield always blocks the Sun,
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temperatures on the dark side
should lower dramatically,
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00:15:28,126 --> 00:15:31,195
and keep the heat sensitive
equipment super cooled.
235
00:15:35,501 --> 00:15:37,535
Here in Huntsville, Alabama,
236
00:15:37,602 --> 00:15:41,940
engineers are building the James
Webb Telescope's critical sunshield.
237
00:15:43,275 --> 00:15:47,245
[Mike Helba] The design of the
sunshield actually is very complex.
238
00:15:47,279 --> 00:15:49,514
It's not just
an insulating blanket.
239
00:15:49,548 --> 00:15:53,952
There's a specific shape to
the sunshield, a parabolic shape.
240
00:15:54,019 --> 00:15:59,724
And the heat actually bounces between the
layers and out the sides of the sunshield.
241
00:15:59,892 --> 00:16:04,996
The curvature of each layer is very
slightly different that allows the heat
242
00:16:05,030 --> 00:16:08,266
to radiate out from between
the layers into space.
243
00:16:12,004 --> 00:16:16,374
[Meyers] The sunshield is exposed
to the harsh environment of space
244
00:16:16,441 --> 00:16:18,009
with its extremes of temperature
245
00:16:18,043 --> 00:16:21,179
and the constant threat
of meteorites.
246
00:16:21,246 --> 00:16:26,985
So the material NASA chose is a
space age polymer film called Kapton.
247
00:16:27,553 --> 00:16:30,555
[Helba] It's thin, it's strong,
248
00:16:30,589 --> 00:16:36,060
and it's coated to provide the heat
protection that the telescope needs.
249
00:16:36,128 --> 00:16:42,233
This is layer one, which is the Sun facing
layer, it's 2000ths of an inch thick.
250
00:16:42,267 --> 00:16:45,370
It's coated with silicon
on the Sun facing side
251
00:16:45,404 --> 00:16:47,972
because that emits
the heat better.
252
00:16:48,007 --> 00:16:50,375
It's coated with aluminum
on the other side.
253
00:16:53,145 --> 00:16:55,713
[Meyers] September, 2013,
254
00:16:55,748 --> 00:16:59,350
construction of the first
sunshield layer begins.
255
00:16:59,418 --> 00:17:02,987
It takes three years
to complete all five layers.
256
00:17:04,123 --> 00:17:06,424
But the sunshield will
only work if the telescope
257
00:17:06,491 --> 00:17:08,559
is in the right region of space.
258
00:17:11,063 --> 00:17:14,332
Unlike Hubble,
which orbits the Earth,
259
00:17:15,167 --> 00:17:19,170
the new telescope will travel
1 million miles away.
260
00:17:19,237 --> 00:17:26,077
To a stable position for satellites
known as the second Lagrange point, L2.
261
00:17:27,446 --> 00:17:30,982
Here it will circle the Sun at
the same speed as the Earth
262
00:17:31,049 --> 00:17:33,251
in a secondary halo orbit.
263
00:17:35,387 --> 00:17:40,324
The heat of the Sun, Earth, and
Moon always hits it from the same side,
264
00:17:40,392 --> 00:17:43,161
and can be blocked
with a giant sunshield.
265
00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:47,932
But this remote orbit
is too far from Earth
266
00:17:47,999 --> 00:17:51,536
to send a repair mission
if anything goes wrong.
267
00:17:54,339 --> 00:17:58,342
Our orbit that we're in precludes
humans from going and fixing it.
268
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:03,381
Not many observatories have
a design really for servicing.
269
00:18:03,415 --> 00:18:05,650
That is not the way
Webb was designed.
270
00:18:05,717 --> 00:18:08,486
[Meyers] This makes
the James Webb Space Telescope
271
00:18:08,553 --> 00:18:11,823
one of NASA's
riskiest projects ever.
272
00:18:11,890 --> 00:18:14,058
They only have one shot.
273
00:18:14,093 --> 00:18:17,195
It's a $10 billion roll
of the dice.
274
00:18:23,168 --> 00:18:25,269
[Meyers] In Richmond,
California,
275
00:18:25,303 --> 00:18:28,906
technicians grind
and polish the 18 hexagons,
276
00:18:28,974 --> 00:18:33,177
that make up the James Webb
Space Telescope's primary mirror.
277
00:18:33,245 --> 00:18:37,849
These machines were custom designed and
built to process the James Webb mirrors.
278
00:18:37,916 --> 00:18:42,420
You want the curve of the entire
surface to be as near perfect as possible.
279
00:18:42,454 --> 00:18:47,258
And one of the challenges is having the
optical surface be really, really good quality
280
00:18:47,325 --> 00:18:49,393
out to the very edge.
281
00:18:49,461 --> 00:18:51,229
[Meyers] The whole mission
depends entirely
282
00:18:51,263 --> 00:18:53,664
on how accurate
these mirrors are.
283
00:18:54,766 --> 00:18:56,033
[Feinberg] Well,
if we don't make our telescope
284
00:18:56,068 --> 00:18:58,035
really well,
we'll get blurry images.
285
00:18:58,069 --> 00:19:02,039
So if we want a really crisp, crisp
images and we want to do really, you know,
286
00:19:02,074 --> 00:19:03,941
science with objects
that are very close together.
287
00:19:04,009 --> 00:19:05,643
You need to make
a very smooth mirror
288
00:19:05,677 --> 00:19:08,846
that is the exact shape
that you want.
289
00:19:08,881 --> 00:19:11,983
I use to tell people
it's the mirror's stupid.
290
00:19:12,017 --> 00:19:15,186
You know, if we can make the
mirrors, we can do this mission.
291
00:19:15,220 --> 00:19:19,190
We have to have a mirror who's
deviations are 1/5000ths of a human hair.
292
00:19:19,224 --> 00:19:21,025
So that's how tiny they are.
293
00:19:21,092 --> 00:19:24,028
They're so microscopic you
would not even be able to see them.
294
00:19:24,095 --> 00:19:25,863
[Daniel] If the mirror was
the size of the United States,
295
00:19:25,898 --> 00:19:27,999
we'd be talking about bumps
that were, you know,
296
00:19:28,033 --> 00:19:30,201
a few inches maybe a foot,
something like that.
297
00:19:30,602 --> 00:19:33,137
Awfully smooth.
298
00:19:33,172 --> 00:19:37,208
[Meyers] The next process,
adding a layer of pure gold.
299
00:19:37,242 --> 00:19:40,378
Technicians place each mirror
in a vacuum chamber.
300
00:19:40,445 --> 00:19:44,482
And then, they inject a tiny
amount of vaporized gold,
301
00:19:44,516 --> 00:19:47,285
which sticks to the surface
of the beryllium.
302
00:19:47,319 --> 00:19:52,156
[Feinberg] Well, it turns out, gold actually
reflects infrared light extremely well.
303
00:19:52,191 --> 00:19:54,192
And it's a very,
very thin layer.
304
00:19:54,259 --> 00:19:57,028
So, um, it's not like
we're using, you know,
305
00:19:57,062 --> 00:19:59,063
huge quantities
of gold to do this.
306
00:19:59,865 --> 00:20:02,333
[Meyers] It's less than
two ounces of gold,
307
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:07,338
just 100 nanometers thick
across all 18 mirrors.
308
00:20:07,405 --> 00:20:11,108
Enough to make about
a dozen wedding rings.
309
00:20:11,143 --> 00:20:14,145
[Feinberg] The mirrors on Webb
have some of the highest reflectivity
310
00:20:14,212 --> 00:20:16,781
of any infrared mirror's
that we've ever made.
311
00:20:16,815 --> 00:20:17,982
Uh, which is great,
because when you're
312
00:20:18,016 --> 00:20:19,450
trying to see these
very dim objects,
313
00:20:19,484 --> 00:20:21,452
you don't want to lose
any photons,
314
00:20:21,486 --> 00:20:24,355
you want every one of them to
be reflected into the instruments.
315
00:20:25,857 --> 00:20:28,125
[Meyers] At 21 feet across,
316
00:20:28,159 --> 00:20:32,230
James Webb's mirror is the
largest to be launched into space.
317
00:20:32,264 --> 00:20:33,998
But it needs to be to allow us
318
00:20:34,032 --> 00:20:38,302
to explore further back in
time than any other telescope.
319
00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:41,138
[Michelle Thaller] The beginning of
the universe was incredibly dynamic,
320
00:20:41,173 --> 00:20:44,108
and things were changing
very, very fast.
321
00:20:44,175 --> 00:20:47,645
There must have been
this incredibly intense era
322
00:20:47,713 --> 00:20:51,949
of star formation, maybe giant
stars, everything blowing up,
323
00:20:51,984 --> 00:20:55,953
that initial creation of the
elements that lead to things like life.
324
00:20:55,988 --> 00:20:57,221
That's what we're looking for.
325
00:20:57,256 --> 00:20:58,589
[explosion]
326
00:21:01,893 --> 00:21:05,363
[narrator] A few hundred
million years after the Big Bang,
327
00:21:05,397 --> 00:21:09,934
clouds of hydrogen and helium
gas collapsed under their own gravity
328
00:21:10,001 --> 00:21:12,169
to create the first stars.
329
00:21:13,872 --> 00:21:16,307
But scientists think they
would have looked very different
330
00:21:16,341 --> 00:21:18,643
from the stars we see today.
331
00:21:18,710 --> 00:21:22,213
This first generation would be
just hydrogen, little bit of helium.
332
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,215
A star would behave
entirely differently.
333
00:21:24,282 --> 00:21:27,118
They may have been huge.
334
00:21:27,152 --> 00:21:30,121
[Hakeem Oluseyi] Hydrogen
and helium stars did not emit light
335
00:21:30,155 --> 00:21:32,990
as efficiently as later stars.
336
00:21:33,025 --> 00:21:36,427
So these first stars
were super massive.
337
00:21:36,494 --> 00:21:40,364
They lived short times
and then explode violently.
338
00:21:40,432 --> 00:21:43,267
[explosion]
339
00:21:43,302 --> 00:21:46,003
[Rigby] When they blow up
and they're dying,
340
00:21:46,038 --> 00:21:48,639
they make tons of the stuff
we're made of.
341
00:21:48,707 --> 00:21:50,975
Carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron,
342
00:21:51,042 --> 00:21:53,010
all those heavy elements.
343
00:21:53,045 --> 00:21:57,915
[narrator] Some astronomers suspect
that when these first stars exploded,
344
00:21:57,982 --> 00:22:01,485
they also sometimes collapsed
into massive black holes.
345
00:22:03,155 --> 00:22:06,457
Clusters of these
monster black holes merged
346
00:22:06,491 --> 00:22:10,227
to form even larger
super massive black holes,
347
00:22:10,262 --> 00:22:14,131
around 40 billion times
the mass of our sun.
348
00:22:14,199 --> 00:22:16,200
At least, that's the theory.
349
00:22:18,370 --> 00:22:23,441
But until the James Webb, we've never
had a telescope able to see far enough
350
00:22:23,475 --> 00:22:25,910
to tell us what happened
so long ago.
351
00:22:25,944 --> 00:22:28,913
So scientists still have
many questions.
352
00:22:28,947 --> 00:22:32,717
[Thaller] Were there stars that were a
thousand times the mass of the sun?
353
00:22:32,818 --> 00:22:38,089
Did they come together, and then almost
immediately blow up into huge black holes?
354
00:22:38,156 --> 00:22:40,157
We see gigantic black holes,
355
00:22:40,225 --> 00:22:43,527
but we see them only a few hundred
million years after the Big Bang.
356
00:22:43,562 --> 00:22:47,565
That's incredible. What formed
these giant black holes so fast?
357
00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:53,003
[narrator] Scientists would also like
to use the James Webb Telescope
358
00:22:53,038 --> 00:22:55,673
to investigate
how these tumultuous events
359
00:22:55,707 --> 00:22:58,642
produce the galaxies
we see today.
360
00:22:58,710 --> 00:23:03,647
[Rigby] We really don't know what
the first generation of galaxies were like.
361
00:23:03,715 --> 00:23:06,350
So we don't know how it all
gets kickstarted.
362
00:23:06,385 --> 00:23:10,588
We don't know what was going
on in their centers to make, uh...
363
00:23:10,655 --> 00:23:12,890
With the super massive
black holes.
364
00:23:12,924 --> 00:23:16,227
We know today every galaxy has
a really big black hole in its center.
365
00:23:16,261 --> 00:23:18,996
We don't know when
all that got started.
366
00:23:19,063 --> 00:23:23,300
And we don't know whether the seeds
of those black holes were big or small.
367
00:23:23,335 --> 00:23:28,372
We started off with these two
competing ideas for how galaxies formed.
368
00:23:28,406 --> 00:23:32,943
One idea is that a big cloud of gas
collapses down to make a galaxy.
369
00:23:33,011 --> 00:23:36,547
The second idea is that
several smaller clouds of gas
370
00:23:36,581 --> 00:23:39,116
collide to build up
a larger galaxy.
371
00:23:39,151 --> 00:23:42,153
It seems like the answer
is a combination of both.
372
00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:46,924
Uh, but we don't know because we've
never observed the first galaxies forming.
373
00:23:46,958 --> 00:23:50,961
With the Webb Space Telescope,
we can finally make those observations.
374
00:23:54,766 --> 00:23:56,200
[Thaller] Think about how
profound that is.
375
00:23:56,234 --> 00:23:58,035
With the James Webb
Space Telescope
376
00:23:58,102 --> 00:24:02,973
we're seeing that last bit to
see the first stars come to light.
377
00:24:05,243 --> 00:24:07,645
[narrator] And that will only
happen if the enormous,
378
00:24:07,712 --> 00:24:13,317
complex, and multi-layered sunshield
is deployed perfectly in deep space.
379
00:24:13,384 --> 00:24:17,588
It's one of the biggest engineering
challenges NASA has ever faced.
380
00:24:23,929 --> 00:24:25,863
[narrator] July 2014.
381
00:24:25,897 --> 00:24:29,834
In Los Angeles, California,
engineers at Northrop Grumman
382
00:24:29,901 --> 00:24:34,171
are assembling a sunshield for
the James Webb Space Telescope.
383
00:24:34,239 --> 00:24:36,640
They have many challenges
to overcome.
384
00:24:38,844 --> 00:24:41,846
[James Flynn] How do we take
such a large, you know, thin structure
385
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,650
and be able to fold it up,
get it to fit into a rocket,
386
00:24:46,718 --> 00:24:51,155
and then have really high confidence
that we can deploy that in space?
387
00:24:56,995 --> 00:25:00,865
[narrator] Engineers decide that
the best way to deploy the sunshield
388
00:25:00,932 --> 00:25:05,336
is with a complex system of
cables, motors, and pulleys.
389
00:25:05,403 --> 00:25:07,938
You know, you're gonna need to
tension it with some form of cables,
390
00:25:08,006 --> 00:25:10,708
because it has to start off
soft and foldable,
391
00:25:10,742 --> 00:25:14,178
and then pull to a taut, you
know, tension kind of thing.
392
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,915
[narrator] They use
a full-scale test sunshield
393
00:25:17,949 --> 00:25:21,185
to figure out the best way
to pull it tight.
394
00:25:21,219 --> 00:25:25,656
It must work perfectly in space
where repairs are impossible.
395
00:25:28,593 --> 00:25:30,027
Once it's launched,
396
00:25:30,029 --> 00:25:35,032
the sunshield should take
about three days to fully deploy.
397
00:25:35,100 --> 00:25:38,435
It's gonna be very stressful when we
do it on orbit because it's away from us,
398
00:25:38,503 --> 00:25:39,904
because we can't
touch it, right?
399
00:25:39,971 --> 00:25:41,906
Because we can only
command the motors.
400
00:25:41,973 --> 00:25:46,143
But in theory, it should
happen easier. [laughs]
401
00:25:46,177 --> 00:25:49,613
You know, than when we were trying
to do it and offload gravity on the ground.
402
00:25:52,284 --> 00:25:54,485
[narrator] November 2015.
403
00:25:55,787 --> 00:25:58,389
All 18 mirror segments
have arrived
404
00:25:58,456 --> 00:26:02,326
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
405
00:26:03,261 --> 00:26:05,362
Now, workers can begin
attaching them
406
00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:08,432
to the backplane
that will hold them together.
407
00:26:19,010 --> 00:26:21,579
In February 2016,
408
00:26:21,613 --> 00:26:26,383
the stunning 21-foot wide
primary mirror is finally complete.
409
00:26:33,858 --> 00:26:38,562
Engineers are already installing
the scientific instruments.
410
00:26:41,266 --> 00:26:48,138
[Rigby] Webb is chock-full of four
very capable science instruments.
411
00:26:48,173 --> 00:26:49,640
I would say it's like
a Swiss Army knife,
412
00:26:49,707 --> 00:26:53,243
but there aren't Swiss Army knives
with as many different features.
413
00:26:53,311 --> 00:26:56,146
We have 18 observing modes
on Webb.
414
00:26:56,181 --> 00:26:58,716
We can do spectroscopy,
we can do imaging,
415
00:26:58,783 --> 00:27:01,719
we can do coronagraphy,
which is blinking at the star
416
00:27:01,786 --> 00:27:04,722
and looking at the faint
planet that's nearby.
417
00:27:04,889 --> 00:27:07,725
Um, we have these quarter
of a million microshutters,
418
00:27:07,792 --> 00:27:12,630
which can open and close individually,
so we can simultaneously take spectra,
419
00:27:12,664 --> 00:27:17,501
look at the rainbows
of 30 or 40 objects at a time.
420
00:27:17,535 --> 00:27:20,938
Webb can also use more than
one science instrument at a time,
421
00:27:21,005 --> 00:27:25,242
so that we are gathering data
from multiple modes at once
422
00:27:25,276 --> 00:27:27,711
and in a really efficient way.
423
00:27:29,314 --> 00:27:35,352
[narrator] May 2016, all the infrared
cameras and instruments are in place.
424
00:27:35,420 --> 00:27:41,091
Only now can the mirrors and the
scientific instruments be tested together.
425
00:27:41,493 --> 00:27:44,294
It's a critical moment.
426
00:27:44,362 --> 00:27:48,766
Forty years earlier, engineers making
the mirror on the Hubble Space Telescope
427
00:27:48,833 --> 00:27:51,368
made a drastic mistake.
428
00:27:51,436 --> 00:27:55,105
The conclusion we've come to is that
there's a significant spherical aberration
429
00:27:55,173 --> 00:27:58,175
in the optical telescope
system optics.
430
00:28:00,845 --> 00:28:04,948
[narrator] They had carefully crafted
the mirror into the wrong shape.
431
00:28:04,983 --> 00:28:07,017
The images were blurry.
432
00:28:07,686 --> 00:28:09,219
I worked Hubble
for almost 20 years,
433
00:28:09,254 --> 00:28:11,355
so I was actually
in the control center
434
00:28:11,389 --> 00:28:13,023
when they announced
the spherical aberration
435
00:28:13,058 --> 00:28:14,825
so I know how it feels
436
00:28:14,859 --> 00:28:16,326
to have this kind of a problem.
437
00:28:17,362 --> 00:28:20,297
[narrator] Hubble's engineers
checked the mirror before launch
438
00:28:20,331 --> 00:28:23,701
with a faulty testing process.
439
00:28:23,868 --> 00:28:26,637
They actually had two
independent pieces of test equipment
440
00:28:26,671 --> 00:28:28,338
that tested the mirror.
441
00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:31,975
They just decided to believe the one
that they thought was more precise.
442
00:28:32,010 --> 00:28:35,212
And it turned out the test
device they thought was precise
443
00:28:35,279 --> 00:28:37,414
was actually precisely wrong.
444
00:28:39,918 --> 00:28:44,888
[narrator] May 2017, NASA's
Johnson Spaceflight Center.
445
00:28:44,956 --> 00:28:49,293
Engineers test the James Webb Space
Telescope's complete optical system
446
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:54,231
in a vacuum chamber that simulates
the freezing conditions of space.
447
00:28:54,298 --> 00:28:57,301
It's something that was
never done on Hubble.
448
00:28:57,368 --> 00:29:00,037
[Scott Willoughby] So we took
that optic, fully deployed it,
449
00:29:00,104 --> 00:29:03,073
put it in a chamber,
hung it from the ceiling,
450
00:29:03,108 --> 00:29:04,441
so it was called cup-up, right?
451
00:29:04,509 --> 00:29:06,343
So imagine, you know,
the mirror looking up,
452
00:29:06,377 --> 00:29:09,146
you know, like that dish
at the bottom.
453
00:29:10,115 --> 00:29:15,652
All of that got tested, 100
straight days, 24/7 testing,
454
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,922
and in the end it actually
proved that the optic worked.
455
00:29:18,990 --> 00:29:22,059
We've tested multiple times
as a full assembly,
456
00:29:22,126 --> 00:29:26,330
and we've tested multiple
times at the full observatory level.
457
00:29:26,397 --> 00:29:30,000
We've tested it
every way we know how.
458
00:29:30,067 --> 00:29:32,336
[man on radio]
start on up again.
459
00:29:32,403 --> 00:29:33,904
[narrator] With the Hubble
Space Telescope,
460
00:29:33,938 --> 00:29:37,307
NASA had a second chance.
461
00:29:37,342 --> 00:29:39,910
Once repaired,
it went on to produce
462
00:29:39,944 --> 00:29:42,279
the most stunning views
of our universe
463
00:29:42,346 --> 00:29:44,414
the world had ever seen.
464
00:29:48,987 --> 00:29:50,521
If the James Webb
Space Telescope
465
00:29:50,555 --> 00:29:53,891
is going to be
a worthy successor,
466
00:29:53,958 --> 00:29:59,429
it's critical that engineers make
sure it unfolds correctly in space.
467
00:30:07,205 --> 00:30:09,606
[narrator reading]
468
00:30:11,209 --> 00:30:15,979
In Los Angeles, workers start to
join the mirror half of the telescope
469
00:30:16,047 --> 00:30:19,283
to the section holding
the sunshield.
470
00:30:19,317 --> 00:30:22,119
[Scott] When we took
those two halves
471
00:30:22,186 --> 00:30:24,655
and we lowered that on in there,
472
00:30:24,722 --> 00:30:27,457
I stood in the window
every moment of that
473
00:30:27,525 --> 00:30:29,593
watching it lower down
and lower down
474
00:30:29,660 --> 00:30:31,295
and then released the weight.
475
00:30:31,329 --> 00:30:34,431
And when you finally realized the
weight is no longer on the crane...
476
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:38,001
Yeah, it's an emotional
moment, right?
477
00:30:38,069 --> 00:30:42,339
For some folks, you know, this has been
a significant portion of their careers.
478
00:30:44,275 --> 00:30:47,678
[narrator] After 15 years
of construction,
479
00:30:47,879 --> 00:30:52,316
the James Webb Space Telescope
is finally complete.
480
00:30:53,785 --> 00:31:00,390
The instruments it carries on board will
revolutionize a new field of astronomy.
481
00:31:06,064 --> 00:31:08,699
[Michelle Thaller] To me, one of the most
profound impacts of the Webb Telescope
482
00:31:08,766 --> 00:31:11,668
is the observations
of exoplanets.
483
00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:13,937
These are planets
outside our own solar system,
484
00:31:13,972 --> 00:31:17,241
planets that are going
around other stars in the sky.
485
00:31:17,308 --> 00:31:20,010
[Hakeem Oluseyi] Exoplanets
excite our imagination,
486
00:31:20,044 --> 00:31:24,147
because life forms, like
ourselves, live on planets.
487
00:31:24,182 --> 00:31:26,149
And one of the biggest
questions we have is,
488
00:31:26,184 --> 00:31:28,252
"Are we alone
in the universe?"
489
00:31:28,319 --> 00:31:30,921
Well, pondering the question
is one thing,
490
00:31:30,988 --> 00:31:34,992
making direct observations and
getting a real answer is another.
491
00:31:35,059 --> 00:31:37,861
And Webb is going to allow us
492
00:31:37,929 --> 00:31:42,366
to probe the atmospheres
of any planets we find.
493
00:31:43,268 --> 00:31:45,435
[narrator] Back in the 1980s,
494
00:31:45,503 --> 00:31:47,905
the only planets
anyone knew about
495
00:31:47,939 --> 00:31:50,908
were the ones circling our sun.
496
00:31:50,942 --> 00:31:54,244
[Thaller] We figured that the sun
couldn't be the only star with planets.
497
00:31:54,279 --> 00:31:55,846
But we didn't have
any proof of it.
498
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,615
Because the planets are
very small and very hard to see.
499
00:32:01,219 --> 00:32:02,653
But then things change
500
00:32:02,687 --> 00:32:05,689
when we realized that
we could detect exoplanets.
501
00:32:05,924 --> 00:32:07,891
By just looking for
the dimming of a star
502
00:32:07,959 --> 00:32:09,626
when the planet passed
in front of it.
503
00:32:09,694 --> 00:32:11,094
And we designed satellites,
504
00:32:11,162 --> 00:32:14,398
specifically just to look for
that dimming of the light.
505
00:32:14,432 --> 00:32:18,035
And if the same dimming pattern
came back again, and again, and again,
506
00:32:18,102 --> 00:32:20,003
we realized
we'd caught a little planet.
507
00:32:20,038 --> 00:32:24,007
And all of a sudden there were
hundreds of exoplanets then thousands.
508
00:32:24,042 --> 00:32:26,143
And as I speak
there are close to
509
00:32:26,177 --> 00:32:28,512
5,000 known exoplanets.
510
00:32:28,579 --> 00:32:31,815
So just in 20 years of my life
511
00:32:31,849 --> 00:32:33,183
a few, a smattering,
512
00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:36,853
and now a sky full of planets.
513
00:32:36,921 --> 00:32:40,691
[narrator] Despite discovering
thousands of exoplanets
514
00:32:40,758 --> 00:32:43,160
scientists know very little
about them.
515
00:32:43,995 --> 00:32:46,263
[Thaller] To this date
all we know is
516
00:32:46,330 --> 00:32:48,765
a rough idea of
the size and the mass
517
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,001
and how close it is to the star.
518
00:32:51,069 --> 00:32:54,438
We don't know whether
there are clouds or oceans.
519
00:32:54,472 --> 00:32:57,741
Whether there's an environment
that would be friendly to life.
520
00:32:57,808 --> 00:33:01,511
All we can give you are the most
rudimentary specs of that planet.
521
00:33:02,981 --> 00:33:05,749
[narrator] If there is life
on a planet out there
522
00:33:05,816 --> 00:33:09,486
the James Webb Space Telescope
could detect it.
523
00:33:11,089 --> 00:33:14,691
[Oluseyi] When the planet
passes in front of the star
524
00:33:14,759 --> 00:33:18,328
the light from that star will pass
through that planet's atmosphere.
525
00:33:18,363 --> 00:33:21,365
And then Webb
can capture that light
526
00:33:21,432 --> 00:33:25,335
and look at the spectrum
of that planetary atmosphere
527
00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:27,938
and look for
what we call biomarkers,
528
00:33:27,972 --> 00:33:29,973
signatures of gasses
529
00:33:30,041 --> 00:33:33,477
what may indicate that
there is life on that world.
530
00:33:33,511 --> 00:33:34,878
[Thaller] Webb will have
the power to
531
00:33:34,912 --> 00:33:36,813
collect enough light
532
00:33:36,848 --> 00:33:38,348
and then spread it out
533
00:33:38,383 --> 00:33:42,386
and de-code what chemicals
must have made that light.
534
00:33:43,855 --> 00:33:47,424
[Oluseyi] There is no single
molecule that says, "Hey,
535
00:33:47,458 --> 00:33:50,427
this is evidence
that there is life here."
536
00:33:50,461 --> 00:33:52,295
But in combination
537
00:33:52,330 --> 00:33:53,397
there are certain molecules
538
00:33:53,464 --> 00:33:56,166
which are strong indicators
of life.
539
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,235
We're entering an age
where we can say,
540
00:33:58,269 --> 00:34:00,570
"This planet has water.
541
00:34:00,605 --> 00:34:02,706
This planet has methane.
542
00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:06,143
This planet has a temperature
very similar to ours."
543
00:34:06,210 --> 00:34:08,645
It could even be something
as profound as we can detect
544
00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:10,514
the presence of
plant life, chlorophyll.
545
00:34:12,984 --> 00:34:15,118
What if we detect a planet
546
00:34:15,153 --> 00:34:17,087
that has pollution.
547
00:34:17,154 --> 00:34:21,091
What if we detect some sign
of industrial activity, technology.
548
00:34:21,926 --> 00:34:24,694
That's gonna get a lot deeper.
549
00:34:24,862 --> 00:34:26,329
We might be
on the cusp of saying
550
00:34:26,364 --> 00:34:30,200
that there other beings up there
that might be looking back at us.
551
00:34:32,470 --> 00:34:34,971
[narrator reading]
552
00:34:35,807 --> 00:34:38,108
In the clean room
in Los Angeles,
553
00:34:38,175 --> 00:34:40,710
Engineers must ensure
the finished telescope
554
00:34:40,845 --> 00:34:43,380
will unfold
once it reaches space.
555
00:34:44,449 --> 00:34:46,016
The most critical test,
556
00:34:46,050 --> 00:34:48,118
is to deploy the sun shield.
557
00:34:49,587 --> 00:34:51,888
You release
a bunch of mechanisms,
558
00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:53,924
and then you pull out one side,
559
00:34:53,958 --> 00:34:55,425
and then you pull out
the other side
560
00:34:55,460 --> 00:34:59,096
but we're on the ground,
that mid boom that pulls out
561
00:34:59,130 --> 00:35:02,132
half of the sun shield,
it wants to droop
562
00:35:02,166 --> 00:35:04,968
and sag, right?
So we have to off load it,
563
00:35:05,002 --> 00:35:08,238
counter balancing gravity,
right, each step of the way.
564
00:35:10,007 --> 00:35:12,242
[narrator]
The membranes unfold,
565
00:35:12,276 --> 00:35:17,614
now they must be pulled apart
to create the five layer sun shield.
566
00:35:18,749 --> 00:35:21,051
[James Flynn] You've got
three cables at each corner
567
00:35:21,085 --> 00:35:24,287
so you have 90 cables that are
basically tensioning this membrane system
568
00:35:24,355 --> 00:35:27,090
You want it tensioned so you
get a controlled shape,
569
00:35:27,158 --> 00:35:30,694
so the thermal performance,
you know works as predicted.
570
00:35:30,795 --> 00:35:34,264
Each layer will tension one at
a time, starting with layer one,
571
00:35:34,298 --> 00:35:36,333
layer five being
the last one to tension.
572
00:35:36,367 --> 00:35:40,403
So, it's a sequential
tensioning of the... all five layers.
573
00:35:40,438 --> 00:35:43,940
[narrator] The sun shield
is finally complete.
574
00:35:44,809 --> 00:35:46,409
Over the next two years,
575
00:35:46,444 --> 00:35:51,314
nearly every part of the telescope
is deployed and redeployed
576
00:35:51,382 --> 00:35:56,253
until NASA is convinced that
it will work in space.
577
00:35:57,822 --> 00:36:01,958
So, when we go to the last
deployment deployed, uh, just right.
578
00:36:01,993 --> 00:36:04,861
Uh, which is what
we wanted to see.
579
00:36:04,929 --> 00:36:08,899
Uh, so, it's all the testing, we saw
multiple deployments, we've made corrections,
580
00:36:08,933 --> 00:36:11,101
and I think,
now it's ready to go.
581
00:36:12,303 --> 00:36:15,939
[narrator] Now, they must
fold it up for the final time.
582
00:36:16,006 --> 00:36:19,342
It's like packing a ten
billion dollar parachute.
583
00:36:27,151 --> 00:36:30,086
[narrator reading]
584
00:36:30,154 --> 00:36:32,489
In the clean room,
in Los Angeles,
585
00:36:32,523 --> 00:36:35,592
the crew pack the telescope,
ready for launch.
586
00:36:37,728 --> 00:36:41,531
Making sure not to forget to
remove the lens cap.
587
00:36:43,267 --> 00:36:47,304
This is the one operation
that they can't get wrong.
588
00:36:47,371 --> 00:36:50,073
When you stow Webb
for the last time on Earth,
589
00:36:50,107 --> 00:36:53,176
you're setting really the
probability of success in orbit.
590
00:36:53,244 --> 00:36:56,479
It's...
It's as simple as that.
591
00:36:56,514 --> 00:37:01,685
[narrator] The team then encases the
telescope in its purpose built container,
592
00:37:01,852 --> 00:37:04,387
to keep it clean on the
journey to the launch site
593
00:37:04,455 --> 00:37:06,056
in French Guiana.
594
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,795
On September 26th, 2021,
595
00:37:11,862 --> 00:37:14,364
the telescope
departs Los Angeles,
596
00:37:14,398 --> 00:37:18,535
loaded onto a special ship,
designed to carry rocket parts.
597
00:37:20,304 --> 00:37:24,808
Cruising at 15 Knots,
it spends 16 days at sea,
598
00:37:24,875 --> 00:37:28,645
and travels 5,800 miles
599
00:37:28,679 --> 00:37:32,415
before arriving at
it's launch site in Kourou,
600
00:37:32,483 --> 00:37:35,252
on the northeast coast
of South America.
601
00:37:37,288 --> 00:37:39,823
December 25th, 2021.
602
00:37:39,890 --> 00:37:43,326
The James Webb Space
Telescope is now ready for launch.
603
00:37:43,361 --> 00:37:47,430
Its Ariane 5 rocket
is fully fueled.
604
00:37:47,498 --> 00:37:51,067
Mission control
give a go for launch.
605
00:37:51,102 --> 00:37:54,404
Go. [speaking French]
606
00:37:54,438 --> 00:37:56,973
[narrator]
Everyone is on edge.
607
00:37:57,041 --> 00:38:00,377
[counting down in French]
Six, cinq, quatre, trois,
608
00:38:00,444 --> 00:38:03,680
deux. [indistinct]
609
00:38:03,714 --> 00:38:06,916
- And lift-off.
- [speaking French]
610
00:38:06,984 --> 00:38:10,053
[man] Decollage, lift-off
from a tropical rainforest
611
00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:12,122
to the edge of time itself.
612
00:38:12,189 --> 00:38:14,891
James Webb begins a voyage
back to the birth
613
00:38:14,925 --> 00:38:16,526
of the universe.
614
00:38:16,593 --> 00:38:20,297
[narrator] The rocket,
now in the upper atmosphere,
615
00:38:20,331 --> 00:38:22,265
jettisons its fairing.
616
00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:25,902
Then the first stage separates.
617
00:38:25,936 --> 00:38:29,205
[man] We are expecting
Webb separation
618
00:38:29,273 --> 00:38:33,943
at the 27-minute, 7-second mark
here into the flight.
619
00:38:34,011 --> 00:38:37,380
At that point, uh,
it will be on its own.
620
00:38:37,415 --> 00:38:40,317
[speaking French]
621
00:38:40,351 --> 00:38:45,155
[cheering and applause]
622
00:38:45,222 --> 00:38:46,956
[narrator]
The next few hours will
623
00:38:47,024 --> 00:38:50,160
determine mission success
or failure.
624
00:38:50,227 --> 00:38:54,197
The actuations start as early
as 30 minutes after launch,
625
00:38:54,231 --> 00:38:57,600
to deploy our solar array
and then they continue on.
626
00:38:59,170 --> 00:39:01,071
[narrator] Three days
into the mission,
627
00:39:01,105 --> 00:39:04,441
Webb deploys the pallets
holding the sun shield.
628
00:39:05,576 --> 00:39:07,977
Next it raises the tower
629
00:39:08,045 --> 00:39:11,348
to separate the sun shield from
the telescope and instruments.
630
00:39:12,483 --> 00:39:15,185
Now comes the most
challenging operation,
631
00:39:15,252 --> 00:39:17,721
unfolding the sunshield itself.
632
00:39:21,292 --> 00:39:24,861
The protective covers roll back.
633
00:39:24,928 --> 00:39:30,467
Inside the telescopic poles electric
motors start pushing out the mid-booms.
634
00:39:32,303 --> 00:39:36,139
Now, eight motors,
pulling on 90 cables
635
00:39:36,206 --> 00:39:39,008
running over 400 pulleys,
636
00:39:39,076 --> 00:39:43,146
start to separate
the sun shield's five layers
637
00:39:43,213 --> 00:39:47,384
it all must work for the
sun shield to be complete.
638
00:39:47,418 --> 00:39:50,620
Everything has to get done,
unfolded,
639
00:39:50,688 --> 00:39:53,056
before we get out to our orbit,
640
00:39:53,090 --> 00:39:55,825
which is a million miles
away from Earth.
641
00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:58,061
Everything out there is so cold,
642
00:39:58,095 --> 00:40:01,564
that if we don't get things
unfolded on the way, it will freeze up.
643
00:40:03,367 --> 00:40:05,769
[narrator] The final
major operation
644
00:40:05,836 --> 00:40:10,140
unfolding the wings
of the giant primary mirror.
645
00:40:10,174 --> 00:40:15,912
Twenty-nine days after launch,
the telescope should be complete.
646
00:40:15,979 --> 00:40:18,648
[Thaller] It is gonna be a
long time until I can relax.
647
00:40:18,716 --> 00:40:22,886
I am not going to be relieved
until I see those first images,
648
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:24,954
and we see that
they look beautiful.
649
00:40:24,989 --> 00:40:29,993
So, I have several months ahead of me
of being pretty nervous and on the edge.
650
00:40:30,060 --> 00:40:34,164
And after that
I'm expecting joy.
651
00:40:34,198 --> 00:40:38,401
[narrator] Thirty days after launch,
Webb reaches it's destination.
652
00:40:40,337 --> 00:40:44,541
Lagrange point 2,
one million miles from Earth.
653
00:40:46,243 --> 00:40:48,311
When the telescope
has cooled down,
654
00:40:48,345 --> 00:40:54,384
engineers will carry out the delicate
task of aligning it's primary mirrors.
655
00:40:54,418 --> 00:40:58,822
It's a painstaking process
that takes two months.
656
00:40:58,889 --> 00:41:02,091
Only then,
six months after launch
657
00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:04,861
will the Webb be ready
to take its first pictures,
658
00:41:04,895 --> 00:41:09,532
and transmit them across their
five second journey, back to earth.
659
00:41:12,169 --> 00:41:14,704
The first images are the thing
that really motivates me.
660
00:41:14,905 --> 00:41:16,840
When we see those images,
and you know,
661
00:41:16,907 --> 00:41:21,077
it's something that the entire
planet really can take part in.
662
00:41:21,111 --> 00:41:24,247
I feel like that's gonna be
an amazing moment.
663
00:41:24,314 --> 00:41:27,350
[Rigby] I fully expect that
the data will not only be
664
00:41:27,418 --> 00:41:30,186
scientifically really important,
665
00:41:30,254 --> 00:41:34,891
but will be compelling
and awe inspiring
666
00:41:34,925 --> 00:41:39,529
and help folks feel connected
to the universe.
667
00:41:39,596 --> 00:41:42,832
So, this is a really big
moment for astronomy,
668
00:41:42,867 --> 00:41:45,935
and it's a big moment
for the world.
669
00:41:46,003 --> 00:41:50,673
Here's a view of the universe we've
never seen before, a new universe,
670
00:41:50,941 --> 00:41:54,544
I am going to be
absolutely giddy.