NASA Scientist Illuminates Next Generation Space Telescope

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On March 31, more than 40 students and teachers filled a science classroom to hear Rich Myers, a lead scientist with NASA, talk about his involvement with the groundbreaking (or, more accurately, “space-breaking”) work on the James Webb Telescope. Myers’ presentation was a one-day mini-course for students and teachers interested in aerospace. During his 45-minute talk, he shared stories, pictures, and videos chronicling this extraordinary project. 

Myers explained that the James Webb Telescope was designed to help us see the beginning of time. The Webb Telescope is six times bigger and 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Telescope, presenting a daunting challenge during the design process. Scientists overcame obstacles such as managing extreme heat and cold in the same instrument, creating a telescope that could fold into a rocket and unfold once in space, and figuring out how to get the rocket to French Guyana. When the telescope was introduced in 2021, it was able to detect a bumblebee on the moon if used on Earth. Ninth grader Maeve Welch commented on how “eye-opening it was to hear how precise the team had to be with all of their behind-the-scenes work.” 

The telescope can launch into space without anyone accompanying it. Due to capacity constraints on the rocket, it needed to be able to fully assemble itself once in space and complete more than 160 automated assembly steps in order to operate. The team of scientists thought through every last detail in preparation for this mission.  If even one of the telescope’s self-assembly steps didn’t happen accurately, the entire mission would fail. But it went perfectly. With amazing infrared photos, the team has seen evidence of the first galaxies. “It was fascinating to see how the Webb Telescope went from the inception of an idea through the practical development of the project and all the troubleshooting that had to be done for the project to be a success,” said physics teacher Joshua Schneider.  

The next frontier is the search for life in space, but in the meanwhile, we have some incredible insights into our universe thanks to Rich Myers and all of the dedicated scientists who made it happen. 

Thank you to the Corcoran family, including Peter ‘23 and Chris ‘25, for introducing us to Rich Myers and allowing St. Luke’s to offer this unique experience to our students, faculty, and staff.