The remarkable story of the James Webb Space Telescope

Listen: An interview with Robert Gonsalves, creator of the phase retrieval imaging technique now being used by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope has reached its final destination, more than a million miles from Earth.

The mission: to peer deeper into the universe than we ever have before.

The space telescope's delicate, honeycombed beryllium mirror is more than 20 feet across, and is designed to observe celestial objects more than 13 billion light years away.

What could it inspire?

"The inspirational aspect cannot be overlooked. Webb is going to inspire an entirely new generation of scientists and engineers."

Today, On Point: The remarkable story and science of the James Webb Space Telescope.

READ: NASA's Overview of the James Webb Space Telescope

Marcia J. Rieke, professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona. Principle investigator for the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) on the James Webb Space Telescope. (@mjrieke)

Nikole Lewis, assistant professor of astronomy and the deputy director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University. Project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope who will work with the telescope’s near-infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec). (@NikoleKLewis)