From The Royal Institution.

NASA’s Astrophysics Division Director Mark Clampin shares his experiences designing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and what the future of astrophysics has in store.

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This lecture was recorded at the Ri on the 19 October 2024.

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has now been capturing glimpses of our Universe for three and a half years. But as the largest telescope in space, the design and development of JWST was no small feat.

Join Astrophysics Division Director at NASA Mark Clampin as he discusses his own experiences in the design of the JWST, and how these design elements led to some of the ground-breaking science results it has yielded from observations of the early universe, the formation and evolution of stars, and the study of exoplanet atmospheres.

Looking to the future, Mark gives us a glimpse into two of NASA’s upcoming projects observing our universe. NASA’s next astrophysics flagship, the Roman Space Telescope, will study the nature of dark energy and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a new mission concept that will propel forwards the search for life in the universe, while building on the technical achievements of the Roman and Webb telescopes.
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Mark Clampin is the Astrophysics Division Director in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He previously served as the Director of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate (SED) at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) where he led the Astrophysics, Solar System, Heliophysics, Earth Science Divisions, and the high performance computing office. During his tenure at GSFC he was the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Observatory Project Scientist developing scientific requirements and overseeing their implementation. His research interests focus on studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems and astronomical instrumentation. He has designed space and ground-based telescope instruments including adaptive optics systems, coronagraphs and detectors. He is the recipient of the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, NASA’s Exceptional Achievement, and Scientific Achievement Medals. He’s also a Fellow of SPIE and the Royal Astronomical Society. Until recently he was the Chief Editor of SPIE peer-reviewed Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments and Systems, a position he held from the creation of the Journal.

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00:00 Intro to the JWST and Mark
05:11 Origins in the Hubble Telescope
11:59 The design process for the JWST
16:36 The mirrors on the JWST
24:50 Testing, moving and logistics
32:18 What happened in the six months after launch?
37:35 The incredible image quality from JWST
43:16 How the JWST is changing science
51:16 What’s next for the JWST?

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