The Unfolding

After 2 decades in the making, after waiting, delays, and uncertainty about the future of the mission, today we saw firsthand: proof of a new frontier. Today we saw perseverance in action. Today we saw the awe and wonder of humanity’s most powerful invention yet. We saw a level of international collaboration like never before. Yesterday we got our first science image from the JWST. The deep field, containing thousands of galaxies, beautifully illustrates gravitational lensing as Einstein predicted.

Today we saw science images of the Southern Ring Nebula (and binary stars), Stephan’s Quintet (cosmic dance of galactic mergers), Carina Nebula (a stellar nursery of cosmic landscapes), and an exoplanet transit spectrum of the hot gas giant WASP-96 b – revealing a signature of water in the atmosphere. These infrared images along with the data are all in a week’s work for the JWST. So imagine what the next weeks, months, years, and decades will bring.

This is the start of a new adventure for humanity. Welcome to the next chapter of our story among the stars. I’m beyond excited. I’m without words as I continue to process the events of today and yesterday. This has been quite an emotional journey. The universe is my first love. JWST has reignited an old man’s heart. Ever since early childhood, the universe has been the ultimate source of magic. It has been the main character in my story and has saved me again and again. It has been a daily lesson and reminder of humility, perspective, and wonderment.

The Hubble Space Telescope, from the 90s to the present continues to change our world. And now, its successor JWST begins to change our universe.

What an amazing time to be alive and see our majestic universe unfold. We have so much to learn and so much to discover. We are but a speck in the cosmic story with the potential to become the story. Our story.