The James Webb Space Telescope is out of this world

For the first deep dive of 2022, we’re going to space! OK, not really. But we’re talking about the most powerful space telescope ever. The James Webb Space Telescope cost $10 billion, a lot of tech went into developing it and we can’t stop obsessing over it. Neither can our guest.

“I cannot contain my excitement. It’s been a wild roller coaster getting to this point. And to have this telescope now launched in space, it’s just so thrilling for astronomers everywhere,” said Caitlin Casey, professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, who will be leading the biggest project on the JWST.

The telescope is expected to help researchers discover some of the most distant galaxies and study the atmosphere of planets outside our solar system to see if they’re habitable.

On the show today: what the JWST tells us about the future of public and private investment in space exploration.

Casey will also highlight the technological developments created by the JWST and its predecessor, Hubble, and how they’ve impacted industries from medical equipment to GPS technology.

In the News Fix, some companies have stopped predicting when they’ll be back in the office. Plus, an in-depth investigation into the House and Senate members who enslaved Black people. Later, we’ll discuss why some people want to tone down our use of the term “deep dive” and an answer to the Make Me Smart Question from the 2011 Nobel Prize winner in physics.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“James Webb Space Telescope Launches on Journey to See the Dawn of Starlight” from The New York Times
Photo: the Hubble Deep Field 
“Global Space Economy Rose to $447B in 2020, Continuing Five-Year Growth” from the Space Foundation
“NASA splits human spaceflight unit in two, reflecting new orbital economy” from Reuters
“Surging Covid-19 Puts an End to Projected Return-to-Office Dates” from The Wall Street Journal
“Rivian shares decline on 2021 production and executive departure” from CNBC
Who owned slaves in Congress? A list of 1,700 enslavers in Senate, House history from The Washington Post
Lake Superior State University’s Banished Words of 2022