Q&A with John Mather on the James Webb Space Telescope (#382)

The James Webb Space Telescope is a monumental step forward in our
pursuit of understanding the Universe and its origins. Here today,
to answer the most frequently asked questions about the telescope,
is the senior project scientist himself, John Cromwell
Mather!  John is an astrophysicist and cosmologist of the
highest rank. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his
work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite COBE along with
his colleague George Smoot. Now, he’s exploring the early Universe
via the JWST.  Tune in! Key Takeaways: 00:00:00 Intro 
00:01:13 James Webb Space Telescope  00:04:16 Why are people
so fascinated with space exploration?  00:07:07 Does Webb have
the potential to see small rocky planets close to us? 00:09:45 Can
Webb rule out or comment on the uniformity of the universe? 
00:12:14 Will the TRAPPIST-1 system be viewed by Webb? 00:14:39
Will future projects self-assemble and self-replicate? 00:15:56 Can
we look at Europa?  00:20:53 Rapid fire questions 
00:24:30 Advice for aspiring students  00:25:24 Outro —
Additional resources:  ️ Learn more about John Mather:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2006/mather/biographical/
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