Why the James Webb Space Telescope looks like that

A NASA astrophysicist explains humanity’s big new toy

After 25 years and nearly $10 billion, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally left planet Earth. Billed as a successor to the beloved Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb’s mirror is six times larger and its instruments are tuned to observe longer wavelengths, in order to detect the stretched-out light from primitive galaxies 13.5 billion light years away.

That primary mission — to see the first stars and galaxies that formed after the Big Bang — determined the unusual and challenging design of the telescope. Instead of a shiny tube, the Webb Telescope looks like a giant honeycomb riding on a silver surfboard. The short answer to why it looks like that is: It needs to be very big and very cold.

In the video above, NASA astrophysicist Amber Straughn and Vox's Joss Fong build a small model of the telescope to explore its extraordinary design.

[artygeezy]

I wish everyone could see the importance of what the Webb telescope will capture! The results will fascinate billions. Jeez, I hope everything (literally) unfolds successfully!

[Hexagonius-jstl]

It is made of hexagons and as we all know hexagons are the bestagons

[sklolaa]

I remember my school having some person from NASA over to talk about this telescope a decade ago. I remember them specifically talking about how it'll take 10 ish years before launch. It's just cool to me to see!

[oftenlucid]

I love this format. It is comfortable and feels like they are just sitting down at a kitchen table and talking. And building it gives them time to think about questions. . . Thanks Vox and the scientific communities' of Canada, Europe and the US. We all really need a "win" right now, and the is feeling like that. . .

[sarvagyasrivastava]

Update: Webb Telescope was successfully launched from French Guiana Launch Area without any errors and is now headed it's way towards the L2 point

[firmanang]

people don't understand having this telescope is like unlocking a whole new map of the universe, the sheer idea of the possibilities we can discover gives me goosebumps

[mckennabrock]

This is one of the best Vox videos ever made. Amber is incredibly skilled at breaking down complex physics jargon into easily digestible information. An incredibly important skill in an age of science misinformation! Well done, guys.

[Raverzdreams]

The Hubble caught some amazing images with such outdated technology. This telescope will blow our minds

[drizzle]

"Why hexagons?"

Because hexagons are the bestagons!

[tuhindas]

I am watching this video again for the second time, not just as a refresher to understand the technology, but also to feel proud that our society has come a long way. It is very emotional for me when humans collaborate to make our world a better place. Proud of our US brothers and sisters. Love from an Indian living in Delhi ❤

[KWally]

"The most awesome thing we'll learn, we haven't even thought of yet." This sums up why space travel is so valuable to our society.

[faisalrahim]

Came here right after the launch, this is such a great and accessible explanation into how and why JWST was built in such a way.

[jonathanhendra]

I happened to watch this video after the telescope was launched. I watched it with my cousin, at first I didn't understand what it was until this video came out. Thanks for the explanation.

[UltimateLizard]

Amber did a PHENOMENAL job explaining everything in a way that’s easy to understand, great video

[reabinx]

It made me teared up hearing her talk about how its worth it to build such a scientific achievement for the good of mankind. If taxes were to be more distributed to these endeavors, I would happily contribute more!!!

[windywendi]

"Why hexagons?"
"Because hexagons are the bestagons."

[anonykip]

Oh please, the US military spends more than $9.7b every 5 days. That cost is a drop in the bucket.

[origummy_]

if i had a 10 billion $ space telescope i would just point it towards Joss Fong and keep smiling forever

[jasonwebb]

For almost 20 years I have waited and waited. To be honest I never thought that I would see the day that, a Telescope named after my great Uncle would launch. Talk about stressful as we are all at the house watching this launch. I cant even imagine what the team that built it was going through. I wonder how many couldn't watch as the rocket started to take off?
I was there watching a space shuttle take off in 86. I was one of the ones that as soon as it exploded knew it was a disaster. I had watched 6 launches before and this one was the one I would have nightmares about for the rest of my life. Sometimes I wished I would have gone to school that day.
I am so happy to have watched a perfect launch. Now we are only praying for the JW to open and work like it is supposed to. Plus I really hope that it last longer than the short end of the stick. 5 months to 10yrs. Please last longer than 5 months. Please share this data to the world for all to see and enjoy. That's what separates science from governments. Thank you so much and I am pretty sure that my Great Uncle James is proud to have his name on such a marvel of technology.

[ElliottWestbury]

Thank you for having Celsius on screen! I remember some years ago I commented about also including metric measurements on Vox and was told it was mostly for a US audience so you had no plan to do so :/ I'm glad you have changed your attitude on that :)